Serving Second Term as KADO President Son Yeon-gi was reelected as the president of the Korea Agency for Digital Opportunity and Promotion (KADO) to serve a second three-year term. President Son, who became the head of the Information Culture Center of Korea in 2002, said, "For the past three years, I had focused on alleviating the information gap from the standpoint of accessibility. In the future, I will concentrate on maximizing the ability to efficiently utilize information," "During the past three years," President Son continued, "I had thought that the information gap should eventually be solved through IT. As such, the agency this year will play a leading role in bringing about the warm digital world pursued by the government." Asked about his ambitions for starting a second term, President Son expressed that he is strongly motivated and said that the ultimate goal of bridging the information gap begins with the productive use of information obtained through IT. Accordingly, I will concentrate my energies on bridging the information gap from this year." Specifically, he said he plans to provide tailor-made information education for all echelons of the society including farmers, fishermen, and salaried men, and others. As part of this goal, Son said he plans to select and appoint so-called "IT leaders" nationwide on a regional basis and assist them in carrying out projects to make information-related activities more productive. "In order to cope with the adverse effects of the informationoriented society," Son continued, "We will provide educational materials to elementary students in addition to junior and senior high school students and form a consultative body with private enterprises and institutions for building up an all-round cooperation system." Regarding the scheduled revamping of KADO, he said KADO plans to newly establish 'information gap alleviation center' so that it can devote its energies on preventing the adverse effects. In the meantime, he said that the Overseas Internet Service Team will further strengthen the 'Digital Hallyu (Korean wave)' projects this year and estimated that the number of IT trainees from overseas will reach over 2,000 people by the year's end. - Deputy Prime Minister Kim Reconsiders Support Project for Top Scientists Following the recent fraud scandal involving Korea's disgraced cloning scientist Hwang, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and Technology Kim Woo-shik said on Feb. 14 that the government would seriously consider whether or not to continue the project supporting top scientists. Meeting with reporters, Kim said, "I agree to the principle to find out talented people and extend financial support to them. However, it is questionable whether giving 3 billion won to a single scientist is right or not. It is important to set appropriate supporting volume and distribute supporting amount impartially." He also said, "The ministry needs to catch up technologies, which generate connection effects with basic and original technologies, and set aside budgets properly." Meanwhile, Kim's recognition and comment is widely different from the Ministry of Science and Technology's existing policy to continue supporting top scientists by singling out No. 2 and No. 3 scientists in the country. - KIPO to Shorten Patent Screening Period to 10 Months Jun Sang-woo, commissioner of Korea Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), said that the KIPO plans to shorten the patent screening period from 17.6 months in the past to 10 months, the shortest in the world, this year. Through the effective patent screening system, KIPO plans to make South Korea one of the top six countries in the world this year in terms of knowledge property protection, he said. To help universities and public research institutions bolster their ability to create knowledge properties, KIPO will also dispatch patent management advisers to 10 universities in the country in the first half of this year, Jun said. In particular, it will build a comprehensive supporting system for knowledge properties in three or four universities, including KAIST, said the KIPO head. At the same time, KIPO will reform its organization effectively by converting the present incentive system from a promotion-centered one to a remuneration-focused one. - Former MOCIE Minister Selected as New Head of KITA South Korea's former Minister of Commerce, Industry and Energy Lee Hee-beom was named as the new chairman of the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) on Feb 22. This is the first time a former top-tier bureaucrat has chaired the trade association in 15 years. Lee left the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy in a cabinet reshuffle early this year. Former KITA Chairman Kim Jae-chul drew criticism from member companies for paying too little attention to representing their interests to the government during his seven-year tenure. KITA was established in 1947 to promote the country's exports. More than 67,000 companies mainly consisting of SMEs are the members of the trade body. Delivering an inaugural speech, the new chairman said, "In the past 30 years, I have been engaged only in industrial and trade fields. In the future, I will make best efforts to make KITA an organization for all members and solve many pending issues in the trade industry as soon as possible." He said that KITA will provide member companies with high-quality services they actually want. "In particular, I will exert all-out efforts to implement projects for provincial-based and small and medium-sized companies, while staging a nationwide campaign for mutual survival between large and smaller enterprises," he said. Lee also stressed the necessity of reform of KITA in keeping with a globalization trend. He said, "I will try to enhance the status of KITA in the country by making the best use of networks related to the government and relevant institutions." First of all, KITA will exert doubled efforts for early conclusion of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (FTA) and the visa waiver pact for Korean entrepreneurs, he said. KITA will also build a close cooperative system with international trade organizations, while activating exchanges of trade missions with major trading partners, including Japan, ASEAN, China and Russia. Noting that there are many issues KITA has to settle in the coming years, the new chairman said that substantial reform is needed not only within the association itself but also its subsidiaries. Accordingly, a considerable change is expected to occur at KITA, COEX, Intercontinental Hotels & Resorts, and other KITA affiliates. He also said, "I will actively push ahead with fair personnel management, regardless of fields from which KITA officials came." On the merger idea between KITA and KOTRA, Lee said, "Certainly, there are areas where the two institutions should cooperate with each other. However, as the two institutions have their own inherent areas, I think it is not proper to discuss the matter at present." Commenting that some owners of small and medium-sized trading companies have a negative view on KITA activities, he said, "I will often meet with such traders and make best efforts to seek proper ways to solve their difficulties." During his inauguration speech, Lee also pledged to prove that his background will be used to the utmost benefit of the trade industry. He also vowed to improve business conditions for traders and help increase exports. "If it is for the benefit of the trade industry, I will aggressively make proposals and suggestions to the government. I am now in a position of representing the industry," said Lee. On the assertion that KITA should change its method to select its chairman, Lee said, "It is not a matter for me to decide by myself. I will discuss the matter at a directors' meeting or a gathering of KITA chairmen later." - New MOCIE Minister Outlines Roadmap for Year Ahead The newly-appointed Minister of Commerce, Industry and Energy Chung Se-kyun said on Feb. 14 that the government will place the focus on fostering nextgeneration growth engines this year. Chung said that the ministry will strive to maintain Korea's favorable export performance, boosting domestic consumption, easing bipolarization of the national economy, and fostering the robot industry as the nation's representative brand industry. Along with this, it will introduce funds for oilfield development, establish companies specialized for development of overseas resources and implement an integrated energy welfare program for poor people, he said. Noting that the present industrial structure consists of some enterprises with strong competitiveness and a great number of small and medium-sized companies with weak competitiveness, Minister Chung said, "High-quality growth means developing smaller companies into healthy mid-size companies through reforms." He added that the ministry will map out an investment road map by industry and business line, while creating legal and institutional systems for close cooperation and mutual survival between large and smaller companies. - Shin Bak-jae Appointed as Chairman of FORCA Shin Bak-jae, president of Philips Korea, has been officially approved as the 15th chairman of the Korea Foreign Company Association (FORCA). He will be serving as the chairman for two years until 2007. Chairman Shin was unanimously approved by the member companies during the regular general meeting of FORCA on February 21 for having successfully served eight months of the remaining tenure of his predecessor, Chairman Lee Jae-hee, who had left the chairmanship in July last year. In his inaugural address, Chairman Shin expressed his ambition by saying, "I will elevate the status of the Korea Foreign Company Association by making policy proposals to the government to improve the environment for foreign investment, including the living conditions for foreign residents in Korea. Moreover, I will concentrate on developing friendship and exchange programs in diverse forms for strengthening the unity and spreading community bond among member companies." Chairman Shin, who had joined Philips in 1974, has worked at the company for over 30 years. He has a high reputation for having transferred new technologies from Philips into Korea and he played a pivotal role in promoting exports of Korean-made electronics parts and finished products.