South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT on Tuesday held a regional on-site roundtable at Yonsei University on the "Fifth Basic Plan for Fostering and Supporting Science and Technology Talent (2026-2030)". The meeting was chaired by Vice Prime Minister Baek Gyeong-hun (배경훈), who also serves as minister of science and ICT.

The basic plan is the top statutory plan in the science and technology talent field, drawn up under the Special Act on Supporting Science and Engineering for Strengthening National Science and Technology Competitiveness. It contains policy goals and tasks for fostering and supporting science and technology talent from 2026 to 2030.

The roundtable was the final stop in a nationwide series of on-site discussions that began last month in the Honam region and continued through the Chungcheong and Gyeongsang regions. The ministry focused on expanding points of contact with the public, the policy's beneficiaries, and improving the completeness of the basic plan.

Graduate and undergraduate students at universities in the Seoul metropolitan area, postdoctoral researchers, early-career researchers and teachers attended the meeting. Participants shared concerns they experience in the field across the full growth cycle of science and engineering talent, from pre-entry stages to building growth foundations and supporting basic science.

Baek said the government is placing the fostering of science and technology talent as the top priority of state affairs and creating an attractive ecosystem for science and engineering. He added the government would faithfully incorporate views proposed at the meeting, along with voices gathered from the field so far, into the basic plan.

The ministry will conclude its regional process for collecting on-site views with this meeting. After consultations with related ministries, it will finalise the basic plan in the first half of the year.