Kim Jin-pyo, deputy prime minister and minister of education and human resources development The Year of the Dog has begun and we greeted the new morning, anticipating the nation's another take-off in advancing the era of $20,000 in per capita national income through education. Last year, we introduced a ubiquitous learning system and a scholarship lending system under the government's guarantee, injecting fresh vigor into our society. In the New Year, we will also continue all-out efforts to offer confidence and hope to the Korean people. Based on results and reflection in 2005, we plan to place first priorities on the following policy projects in 2006: Firstly, we will exert best efforts to actively foster talented people armed with creative and leading learning power. Secondly, we will push ahead with building an "education safety network" to cut off transfer of poverty from generation to generation through education and remove educational alienation from our society. To remove educational gap between regions and between income brackets, we will stage campaigns to foster regions placing first priorities on education and welfare and expand a scholarship system for students attending technical junior colleges from low-income families. To actually guarantee educational chances for poor people, the government will establish hospital schools in the country for children staying in hospital for a long period and strengthen an educational system for children of foreign workers here. Thirdly, we will establish a foundation to actively foster excellent manpower equipped with high international competitiveness. Now, the development and management of excellent manpower from the national dimension has become an essential issue for survival of the people. Related to this, we need to enhance efficiency through merger and coordination of policies related to human resources development, which are now scattering in government ministries. As the ministry in charge of development of human resources, the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development will set up the "human resources reform headquarters" and launch the "national human resources committee," whose chairman is president, this year. In particular, the ministry will construct infrastructure, which forecasts demand and supply of national manpower from the pan-ministry dimension and offer information on education and labor market. Along with this, we will create the World Human Resources Development (HRD) Forum to possess a globallevel channel for cooperation in human resources policy, while pushing ahead with effective HRD policies for the people. Fourth, we will converge our energy on the construction of a lifetime occupational educational system, which calls for lifelong education through smooth implementation from school to job site and from job site to school. In keeping with an increase in liquidity of labor market and early entry into an aging society with a low birth rate, we will also build a "supporting system for lifetime design from the national dimension" in order to enhance the function linking work, learning and employment. In order to actively foster manpower satisfying the demand by industries, the ministry will reform a vocational education system for vocational high schools and junior colleges. At the same time, we will maximize development and use of human resources in all walks of life, including soldiers, female workers, aged people, and adults with low academic background. Fifth, we will extend active supports for fostering talented people who will lead the national growth through universities' strategies for specialization and bolstering of competitiveness. A social sense of sympathy that rapid and bold reforms of universities are needed to enhance national competitiveness has already been created. Accordingly, each university should refrain from seeking department-style management and make best efforts to concentrate on a few competitive fields. We will accelerate such academic-industrial cooperative projects as universities' structural reform, NURI project and school enterprises, which started in keeping with the inauguration of the Participatory Government. At the same time, we will improve the operation system for national universities, while pushing for introduction of a system for professional graduate school in the law, medical science and management sectors, and the second-phase BK 21 projects. We will actively foster excellent graduate schools in many regions in linkage with regional strategic industries, move of public institutions and creation of reform cities. Along with this, we will go all-out to foster basic studies, the root of creating knowledge, while strengthening research activities on basic studies. In keeping with the trend of globalization and liberalization, the government will improve English educational systems dramatically for primary and middle schools, while actively supporting overseas advancement of the nation's elearning, now on the top level in the world. Based on high educational fever, Korea has entered the ranks of economic powers in just a half century, while achieving democracy simultaneously. However, if we fail to absorb such high educational fever with a right educational policy, education may work negatively to the national management. To let the people's high educational fever work as a locomotive power to achieve $20,000 or $30,000 in per capita national income, it is very important for the government to carry out high-level educational policies satisfying consumers' demands. To do so, the ministry will carry out effective and desirable educational policies through endless reforms. We will carefully listen to the voices of the people and reflect opinions of those concerned to implementation of educational policies. I hope the Korean people will actively participate in the ministry's efforts and extend full support. I once again wish all Korean people good health and happiness in the New Year.