We need to create a system that protects our country’s research through automated logging and enables post-management. It’s crucial to protect researchers without stifling their freedom to conduct their activities.
Rep. Choi Su-jin (People Power Party) made these remarks while explaining the amendment to the National Research and Development Innovation Act, which passed the plenary session on the 4th. According to the amendment, the research security system, which previously relied on individual researchers’ ethics, is expected to be elevated to a national security system level.
Sophisticated Foreign Technology Recruitment… Researchers Exposed and Vulnerable
Rep. Choi stated that beyond simple approaches of the past, now Chinese government-led offshoots of the Thousand Talents Plan are attempting to co-opt researchers’ entire lives by offering irresistible economic packages, including annual salaries of 400 million KRW (approximately 267,000 USD), generous government subsidies, and support for housing and children’s education. She emphasized that this is not just a matter of sending a single email, but a meticulous approach.
According to the explanation, in addition to the incident where 149 professors at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) received emails about China’s Global Outstanding Scientists Invitation Project, numerous national research institutions have also been targeted.
A comprehensive investigation by the National Intelligence Service revealed that there were hundreds of contact attempts at government-funded research institutes leading national research and development (R&D), including 226 cases at the Korea Basic Science Institute, 188 cases at the Korea Institute of Materials Science, and 127 cases at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information.
In a survey conducted by the Korean Academy of Science and Technology, 61.5% of members reported receiving overseas recruitment offers within the past five years. Of these, 82.9% were from China, demonstrating the widespread nature of technology theft attempts.
Recruitment tactics are evolving. As controversy over technology leaks arose, China has concealed the name Thousand Talents Plan and is now employing variant programs under new names such as Foreign Expert Project, Qiming, and 111 Project.
Moving away from mass email campaigns, they have shifted to individual approaches, repeatedly inviting domestic researchers to China under the pretext of business trips or collaboration projects. In fact, it’s known that 27 researchers from government-funded institutes have visited China more than 10 times in the past five years.
Rep. Choi emphasized that the current reactive security system, which relies solely on individual researchers’ ethics and voluntary reporting, is virtually defenseless against such sophisticated attempts to poach researchers, research, and technology.
The core of this amendment to the National Research and Development Innovation Act is the introduction of a new sensitive research project category as an intermediate level to address security blind spots.
Rep. Choi explained that she directly proposed the sensitive research project category, stating that the existing binary structure of national secret-level security projects and fully disclosed general projects makes it difficult to protect cutting-edge technologies with high potential value. She added that this new category requires separate management considering the impact on national security and the economy if leaked.
Once implemented, the Minister of Science and Information and Communcation Technology (ICT) will establish cross-ministerial research-related security guidelines. Additionally, a system to fundamentally protect security projects is expected to be put in place.
Going forward, it will be difficult to transfer ownership of security project outcomes without prior approval. The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to prepare a draft enforcement decree and finalize detailed classification guidelines after gathering feedback from the field.
Rep. Choi stated that strong countermeasures are necessary, similar to how the U.S. restricts federal research funding for researchers participating in malicious foreign talent recruitment programs, and how the UK and the European Union (EU) have mandated risk assessments.
She also ordered that the enforcement decree should specify that designated projects can receive priority support for security enhancement budgets, including indirect costs. She explained that they will fully reflect the voices of academia and the research community to ensure it doesn’t become excessive regulation.
However, she emphasized the need to fully incorporate the voices of academia and the research community to prevent security enhancements from becoming excessive regulations that hinder research.
Expectations For Strengthening Global Joint Research Competitiveness and Ensuring Autonomy
According to the amendment, a dedicated research security agency is expected to be launched under the leadership of the Ministry of Science and ICT to provide consultation, education, and conduct surveys related to national R&D project security.
Rep. Choi said that the newly established dedicated agency should act as a command center, providing real-time consultation on suspicious foreign proposals and assessing their risks. She added that they will ensure the agency can work closely with relevant organizations such as the National Intelligence Service to provide immediate technical investigation support in case of security incidents.
Addressing concerns that enhanced security might hinder international joint research, Rep. Choi emphasized that it is actually an essential condition for global cooperation.
She stressed that advanced countries like the United States and Europe tend to avoid cooperation with countries lacking adequate security systems, adding that this legal amendment will serve as a global ticket proving that we are reliable partners.
Measures to protect researchers’ autonomy are also being prepared. The law explicitly includes procedures to ensure correction orders and opportunities for improvement so that simple security mistakes are not considered misconduct.
Rep. Choi pledged to avoid administrative convenience-oriented regulations that impose unnecessary reporting obligations on researchers for the sake of management convenience. She committed to creating a virtuous cycle structure where institutions with good security practices receive substantial preferential treatment and benefits through a research security certification system.
Profile of Rep. Choi Su-jin (People Power Party)
△Chairperson of the Seoul Jung-gu/Seongdong-gu-eul Party Committee △Member of the Science, Technology, Information, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee △Member of the Steering Committee △22nd National Assembly Member (Proportional Representation) △Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Panolos Bioscience △Vice President of OCI Co., Ltd. Bio Industry Division △Head of Research at Daewoong Pharmaceutical Research Institute △Member of the Special Review Committee on Industrial Convergence Regulation, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy