Korea inaugurates world's first Ministry of Knowledge Economy

On 28 February the new government in South Korea inaugurated the Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE) - a world first. The new ministry was created under the Government Restructuring Plan under which the presidential transition committee announced that the Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) will be abolished and the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (MoCIE) will be expanded to the Ministry of Knowledge and Economy. Also, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) will be merged with the Ministry of Education. In the plan, the current government structure will be reduced to thirteen ministries and two agencies. According to the MKE website, "MKE incorporates certain functions that were previously the responsibility of other Ministries (Information and Communications, Science and Technology, Finance and Economy)".

Lee Youn Ho, the minister-in-charge of MKE remarked on its inauguration that MKE

"is charged with the ever-important task of upgrading Korea’s growth engines of industry and technology. .... our primary undertaking is to create a business-friendly environment that is less burdensome, more transparent, and absolutely welcoming to businesses, both domestic and foreign. I plan to eliminate counterproductive regulations that undermine corporate competitiveness, identify nuisances which impede investment, and establish a Ministry-wide system to resolve such problems. Our other pressing task at hand is to develop a comprehensive mid-to long-term vision to secure new growth engines for the nation. To achieve this goal I am implementing a three-pronged policy to support existing value-added industries, discover and foster next-generation industries, and strengthen the service industry."

Korea is not new to restructuring. It has a history of new knowledge policy initiatives being started everytime a new government takes over. It is also known for its informatization visions like IT839, e-Korea, Broadband IT Korea. Thanks to past strategic direction Korea has become East Asia's premier ICT hub. The challenge before MKE is to expand those gains into wider S&T, higher education and industry sectors. The creation of a supra-ministry with the aim to streamline the whole-of-government approach to knowledge economy carries the hopes of a nation. I deeply suspect that the new system is pro-chaebol and it will be interesting to see how things pan out.