[Impeachment of Yoon Seok-yeol] Science and Technology Community: "Yoon Government Cuts 5 Trillion Won R&D Budget... Impeachment Absolutely Justified"

Public Science and Technology Research Labor Union: "Yoon Administration Lacked Communication with the Field"
"Exclusion and Violence Inflicted on the Science and Technology Sector Must Be Removed"

The Public Science and Technology Research Labor Union evaluated the Constitutional Court's decision to dismiss President Yoon Seok-yeol on the 5th as "a victory for the people who called for impeachment throughout last winter in workplaces, homes, and streets, and a very natural outcome."

On February 16 last year, at the KAIST graduation ceremony in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, graduate Shin Min-ki was being restrained by presidential security officers while demanding the restoration of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's research and development (R&D) budget. Photo by Daejeon Chungnam Joint Press Corps

In a statement on the same day, the Public Science and Technology Research Labor Union said, "As shown by the unprecedented R&D (Research and Development) budget cut of 5.2 trillion won, the Yoon Seok-yeol administration made major policy decisions and pushed them forward in a unilateral and violent manner without any communication with the science and technology field," adding, "Research projects and tasks were halted or seriously disrupted, and a sense of helplessness and self-loathing spread throughout the research sites."

They continued, "Many young scientists were hurt and left the research field," adding, "The research and development ecosystem has been seriously damaged."

They further emphasized, "With the dismissal of President Yoon Seok-yeol as an opportunity, our society must quickly regain stability," and "We hope this will be a chance to remove the exclusion and violence inflicted on the science and technology field and allow those working in research sites to focus on research and development in a stable environment."

The so-called 'KAIST Mouth-Taping Incident,' where security personnel from the Presidential Security Service forcibly dragged out students by their limbs during the KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) graduation ceremony on February 16 last year in protest of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's R&D budget cuts, remains a trauma for domestic science and technology researchers.

Immediately after the incident, opposition parties at the time fiercely criticized it as the "Mouth-Taping Government" and the "Revival of Yoon Doo-hwan" (a pun comparing President Yoon to former President Chun Doo-hwan). The People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy also criticized it in a statement, calling it "an illegal exercise of public authority that clearly violated the constitutional fundamental right of freedom of expression in a democratic country, which cannot be justified even under the pretext of presidential security."

On December 5 last year, after the emergency martial law on December 3, the KAIST Professors' Association issued a declaration on the state of affairs, stating, "Although freedom of expression was suppressed and democratic values were damaged here at the temple of learning last February, we remained silent," and "Now, as such tyranny is directed at the entire nation, we reflect and raise our voices."