'Gukppong' or Long-cherished Wish?…The Two Faces of Koreans Toward the Nobel Prize [Reading Science]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] This year's Nobel Prize season opens on the afternoon of the 3rd (Korean time) with the announcement of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. The attitude of Korean society toward the world's most prestigious Nobel Prize has diversified. In the past, there was a unanimous feeling of envy and a national effort to win it quickly, but now various opinions are emerging, ranging from cynical attitudes that it is just a 'chicken rib' or 'nationalistic pride' and not worth paying attention to, to optimistic views that it is a problem that will be resolved over time.

According to the Nobel Committee, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (selected by the Karolinska Institute) will be announced at 6:30 p.m. on the same day. Following this, the winners of the Physics Prize (Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences) on the 4th, Chemistry Prize (Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences) on the 5th, Literature Prize (Swedish Academy) on the 6th, Peace Prize (Norwegian Nobel Committee) on the 7th, and Economic Sciences Prize (Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences) on the 10th will be announced, totaling six categories. The award ceremonies will be held on December 10th, with the Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway, and the others in Stockholm, Sweden. The prize money for each award is approximately 1.15 million USD.

In this regard, the international academic information agency 'Clarivate Analytics' announced on the 22nd of last month a list of 20 expected Nobel laureates in the scientific fields and economics based on citation counts, originality, and other major awards. The list included three Japanese and four Asians, including Chinese-American individuals, but unfortunately, no Korean names were included.

Many lament the comparison between Japan's Nobel scientific achievements and Korea's. Japan has produced numerous laureates, including last year when Syukuro Manabe, a Japanese-American, won the Physics Prize for developing climate change prediction models. Japan has a total of 29 laureates, 25 of whom received awards in scientific fields, covering all categories except the Economics Prize. In contrast, Korea has zero laureates except for the late President Kim Dae-jung's Peace Prize.

The gap between Korea and Japan regarding the Nobel Prize is difficult to overcome in the short term. Japan, which has been researching basic science since the 19th century, laid its foundation by focusing on medicine, chemistry, and physics from the early 20th century. It is a well-known fact that Japan accumulated medical knowledge through human experiments on Korean independence fighters and Chinese prisoners while operating Unit 731 in Manchuria. Moreover, Japan is famous for its unique craftsmanship spirit, providing researchers in both public and private sectors with long-term stable research environments. In contrast, Korea has a short history of basic science research. It has focused mainly on applied fields and only established the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) in 2011, marking a late start. It has been less than 30 years since Korea began basic and fundamental scientific research worthy of a Nobel Prize. Korea is also criticized for its rigid and authoritarian research culture and government-led academic support system, which hinder free, creative, and original research.

▲The possibility of winning the Nobel Prize in science was relatively high in our country. [Data provided by the National Research Foundation of Korea]

However, the atmosphere in Japan, which has been experiencing a 'lost 20 years' due to the bubble burst, is no longer what it used to be. With the prolonged low yen, wages have decreased, and the increase in non-regular employment has made job security unstable, leading to more Japanese researchers fleeing overseas. They are even mocked as having gone from 'building owners working at large corporations' to 'empty-can rich people sitting on heaps of debt.'

On the other hand, Korea has been rapidly increasing its 'accumulation time' by focusing investments on basic science research since the late 2010s. This is why predictions say that Korea winning a Nobel Prize in science is only a matter of time. In fact, David MacMillan, the 2021 Nobel Chemistry laureate who visited Korea last May, said, "Korea's investment in science and technology is impressive," and predicted, "Within 15 years, one or two Korean Nobel laureates will emerge." In the field of mathematics, often called the Nobel Prize of mathematics, Korean-American Professor June Huh of Princeton University won the Fields Medal last April.

There are also many criticisms that too much significance should not be placed on the Nobel Prize. Winning the Nobel Prize is a common pledge among presidential candidates. In fact, most past presidents, including President Yoon Suk-yeol and former President Moon Jae-in, pledged to produce Nobel laureates in science by strengthening basic science research. To this end, the Ministry of Science and ICT has deliberately established and operated the Nordic Science and Technology Cooperation Center in Sweden, pouring administrative power and finances into it. However, some experts criticize that rather than such 'showy' administrative mobilization, it is better to focus on investing in basic science to encourage free and stable research by young scientists. However, under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, the growth rate of investment in basic science research has sharply declined. Next year's national R&D budget will increase slightly by 1.7% (about 500 billion KRW) compared to this year's 24.2363 trillion KRW, which, considering inflation, is effectively a cut. The most noticeable point is that the increasing trend seen over the past five years has been broken. The government's R&D budget growth rates were 4.4% in 2019, 18.0% in 2020, 13.1% in 2021, and 8.8% this year, maintaining high growth rates.