South Korea, which is looking forward to producing Nobel Prize winners, needs steady efforts and continued support from the government, not obsession.

This year's Nobel Prize announcements for the natural sciences have all been completed by the 4th of this month. There were no Korean winners this year either. Until now, South Korea has been far from receiving the Nobel Prize, with the winners only receiving the Nobel Prize in 2000.
Former President Kim Dae-jung was the only recipient of the Japan Prize. There are no winners in the natural sciences. Every year, as the time for the Nobel Prize announcement draws near, expectations for winning the coveted prize rise, but recently there has been a
The period when the Nobel Prizes are announced every day is an important time for Korea to see the difference between itself and the rest of the world in the field of science and technology. Amended
I feel that this is a somewhat depressing period. This year as well, the winners of awards in the natural sciences will be announced, starting with the Physiology and Medicine Prize on the 2nd, followed by the Physics Prize on the 3rd and the Chemistry Prize on the 4th.
The table continued. The Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo said in an editorial on the 3rd, ``There is not a single Korean scientist among the candidates listed by Clarivate Analytics, an academic analysis organization famous for predicting the Nobel Prize.''
He pointed out the difference, saying, ``We cannot help but compare Japan with Japan, which has already produced 25 Nobel Prize winners (in the natural sciences) and where strong candidates are nominated every year.'' Clarivate in the UK
The winners of the Citation Honor Award, who are considered strong candidates for the Bell Prize, have been announced. The award is given to researchers from around the world for their high number of citations in academic papers, ``degree of contribution to research,'' ``recipient of other awards," and ``past No.
The awards are evaluated in four fields: medicine/physiology, physics, chemistry, and economics, taking into consideration factors such as "areas of attention expected from the award." Until now, there have been many people who have actually won the Nobel Prize from among the recipients of the Citation Honors Award.
There is. South Korea's ``obsession'' with the Nobel Prize seems to be seen as strange from overseas. Oh Cheol-woo, a lecturer in science and technology at Hanbat University, wrote in an article for the Korean newspaper, Hankyoreh, ``It's not just about winning awards.''
If this becomes your goal, you will be seen as being strangely attached. A foreign professor at a Korean university saw a banner for a discussion group on campus titled ``How to Win a Nobel Prize'' and thought, ``
I remember him saying, ``I had never heard of a debate on a topic like this until I came to South Korea.'' In addition, Pohang Engineering, a Korean company that has long researched Nobel Prizes,
Lim Kyung-sun, a professor emeritus at Korea University, said in an interview with the Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo, ``No matter where you go in the world, there is no country that craves the Nobel Prize as much as we do.'' That's the Nobel Prize for Korea.
It can be seen that it is a long-cherished desire to produce award winners. In order to make the production of laureates a reality, South Korea continues to invest in basic science in earnest, and in 2011 it achieved world-class basic science.
The Institute of Basic Science (IBS) was established to conduct academic research. Korea is actively engaged in research and development, and the R&D budget in 2023 will exceed 30 trillion won (approximately 3.3 trillion yen).
It broke. R&D expenditures account for 4.96% of gross domestic product (GDP), ranking second in the world. However, compared to countries such as Japan, South Korea has only begun to invest in basic science in earnest.
It hasn't been that long. Everyone understands that these efforts will not immediately lead to winning a Nobel Prize. JoongAng Ilbo also said, ``I won the award right away because I made a great scientific discovery today.''
It is rare for someone to be able to do this," and explained, "In most cases, research results attract the attention of academia in their mid-50s, and by the time they reach their late 50s, they have become the highest authority in their field and won the Nobel Prize."
did. Oh, a lecturer at Hanbat University mentioned earlier, also pointed out, ``The time lag between winning the Nobel Prize is getting longer.'' Long-term, steady research is necessary, and continuous support from the government is essential for this purpose.
I won't let you. South Korea has so far invested generously in research spending, but in next year's budget announced by the government, research and development costs have been cut by 16.6% compared to this year. The JoongAng Ilbo editorial said, ``High-quality research
"Only if research continues and the country's constitution changes to that of a first-mover nation will it be able to get closer to winning the Nobel Prize."