[Deep Tech] Leading Research? Why Is It a 'Sensitive Country'?

Despite Emphasizing International Research Cooperation, a Crisis Occurred
Alliances Are No Exception Amid Fierce Technological Competition
Need to Pursue Independent Development of Leading Technologies and Reexamine Science and Technology Diplomacy

Asia Economy has repeatedly pointed out the problems of science and technology diplomacy since last year. Gaps and potential issues were visible in various places. Eventually, a major incident occurred. It was belatedly revealed that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) intended to designate South Korea as a "sensitive country." All of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and Ministry of Science and ICT were completely in the dark about this critical issue of being labeled a sensitive country.

Last year, the Japanese government and SoftBank attempted to take the messenger app "Line" away from Naver. At that time, criticism arose that science and technology diplomacy did not operate proactively.

Let’s examine the root of the problem. At embassies, attach?s sent from various ministries monitor local trends and gather information. Currently, there is one consul from the Ministry of Science and ICT working at the South Korean Embassy in Washington D.C. Until just a few years ago, the Ministry of Science and ICT sent attach?s to the Washington embassy in both the science and IT fields, but after the science and IT departments merged into the Ministry of Science and ICT, the principle of one attach? per ministry was applied.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs established a Science and Technology Diplomacy Bureau and recently secured a position for an AI (Artificial Intelligence) officer, but it is difficult for diplomats who are frequently rotated to keep up with changes in science and technology. There are very few science and engineering graduates within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A person who worked at the U.S. embassy said, "Most of the U.S. counterparts held doctoral degrees in scientific fields. It was not easy to respond." The Ministry of Science and ICT cannot be exempt from responsibility either. It would have been possible to dispatch personnel from the science field, but organizational inertia did not change.

The United States has long experience dealing with nuclear, space, and semiconductor diplomacy through the Cold War era. While we need to nurture and develop experts, there are still shortages and strategic gaps everywhere.

I recall advice I heard last year from a Korean-American scientist. He said, "The Korean government should value the Korean-American scientists in the U.S." Shortly after this scientist’s remark, it was revealed that Sumi Terry, a Korean-American foreign affairs expert, was indicted for contacting the National Intelligence Service without prior notification. This was an example showing that even though the U.S. is an ally, it strictly follows principles when it comes to leaking its own information. The sensitive country issue is likely an extension of this context.

The Yoon Seok-yeol administration presented strengthening international research cooperation as a key task in the science and technology field this year and significantly increased the related budget. The sensitive country incident is a red light for these plans. There have been claims that the value of U.S. professors has already increased, but joint research could become even more difficult. Minister Yoo Sang-im of the Ministry of Science and ICT said the scale of joint research is about 12 billion KRW, but the actual scale is likely larger.

We now claim to be developing leading-edge science and technology, but this incident shows we still remain in a follower position. Our dependence on the U.S. is absolute. For example, the national laboratories under the U.S. Department of Energy house some of the world’s highest-performance supercomputers. These computers are used in research cooperation with South Korea, but their use may become difficult in the future.

As the era of AI, semiconductors, and space opened during the pandemic, science and technology exchange has become a core area for national survival. Science and technology have always been important and subject to control in any era. After the Soviet Union developed the atomic bomb, Dr. Julius Robert Oppenheimer, who led the first U.S. atomic bomb development, was suspected of being a Soviet spy. The current sensitive country issue is said to have originated from the Los Alamos National Laboratory established by Oppenheimer. History repeats itself, but does not change much.