South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT on Wednesday held a "Working Group Committee for Support to Attract Professional Talent" under the Foreign Policy Committee in the government complex in Sejong, with eight related ministries taking part, including the education, justice and industry ministries.

The working group meeting was set up to discuss cross-government cooperation to attract top talent and support their settlement, as global competition for technological dominance intensifies in advanced fields such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors and quantum.

The ministry is pushing the "Brain to Korea" project, an initiative to attract top overseas talent, as part of a state task to build a basic research ecosystem and become a science and technology talent powerhouse.

In connection with this, the meeting discussed four agenda items: sharing the status of each ministry's efforts related to attracting professional talent; pushing a top-tier visa for science and technology; promotion and cooperation to attract overseas talent; and building a global one-stop dedicated support system. It sought measures to attract professional talent.

The ministry plans to continue working-level consultations with related ministries so that policies to support the attraction of professional talent can operate more effectively, using the meeting as a momentum.

Lee Jun-bae (이준배), director general for Future Talent Policy at the ministry, said, "We will work closely with related ministries to create an environment in which top overseas talent can settle stably in Korea and demonstrate their capabilities."