[Column] Minister Lee Jong-ho Must Keep Promise on Line Incident Response

Naver is facing growing concerns that Japan's 'national messenger' Line, which it has painstakingly nurtured, may be lost to Japan. On the 8th, just hours after Minister Lee Jong-ho of the Ministry of Science and ICT stated at a press conference marking his 2nd anniversary in office that "we will do our best to ensure that our companies are not unfairly treated in overseas investments," Line Yahoo began seriously discussing a split from Naver. Kang Do-hyun, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, "If there are mentions from Line's side, we will strongly support them," but the government has yet to clearly disclose what measures it is taking in response.

The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have defined the administrative guidance issued by Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, which triggered the Line incident, as not a diplomatic issue. Since it is not considered a diplomatic matter, it is awkward to make direct statements. Rather, officials from Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications have publicly stated through Korean media that the administrative guidance and the sale of shares are unrelated. It is said that the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have completely refused to respond to lawmakers' requests for reports on this incident. Lee Yong-seon, the Democratic Party's secretary of the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, who spoke with reporters, also said, "We have not received any response."

Of course, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the final negotiator with Japan, but the Ministry of Science and ICT's Science and Technology Information and Communication Attach?, dispatched to the Japanese Embassy, handles matters related to Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications concerning telecommunications and information technology. While diplomatic negotiations are important in the fields of science and IT, cooperation, communication, and information exchange are also necessary. This is why we dispatch Science and Technology Information and Communication Attach?s to major countries. Conversely, other countries also dispatch science attach?s to us for the same reason. A key official from the Ministry of Science and ICT recently emphasized in a meeting with reporters the need to dispatch an additional science attach? to the U.S. Embassy. If so, is the Ministry of Science and ICT fulfilling its role well enough to warrant sending additional attach?s?

With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, AI, and the space age, the importance of science and technology diplomacy is rapidly rising worldwide. If we fail to join this trend, it will be difficult to protect our interests in the increasingly fierce international disputes ahead.

Last year, the Ministry of Science and ICT lost a significant amount of public trust due to cuts in the research and development (R&D) budget. Minister Lee Jong-ho acknowledged that communication with the scientific community was insufficient during the R&D budget reduction process last year. The Ministry of Science and ICT claims to be actively communicating with Naver regarding the current Line incident, but it must recognize that it is not properly communicating with the public. Since it has already defined this as not a diplomatic issue, we also want to ask why it is involved at all. If it intends to be involved, it should do so transparently so that the public can be informed.