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Second meeting of FKI's Special Committee on Creative Economy

FKI held the second meeting of the Special Committee on the Creative Economy at the InterContinental Seoul Coex on June 12, inviting such dignitaries as Rep. Hak Yong Shin, Chairman of the Education, Culture, Sports & Tourism Committee, Rep. Ha Jin Jhun who is heading the National Assembly's Forum to Foster Future Leaders, and Vice Minister of Education Seung Il Na.

In his opening address, FKI Chairman Chang Soo Huh said, "Since its inception in April this year, we have been working on programs to help realize the creative economy which would create new jobs and serve as a driving force behind our national economic development. I am glad to learn the government has recently organized a private and government joint council to identify difficulties in the private sector, and make an inter-ministerial bid to work them out".

Chairman Hak Yong Shin of the National Assembly committee stressed in his congratulatory remarks, "For the creative economy to firmly take root, experts from various professions involving the business community, the government, and the National Assembly need to brainstorm their ideas to 'literally' create a new economy. I earnestly hope they will be able to activate the economy for people's livelihood, and keep exploring new growth engines through this new 'Creative Economy' drive".

Presenters and discussants at the meeting focused on ships of the future, the virtual reality industry, and ways to foster creative human resources.

STX Vice President In Cheol Chung said in his paper, 'How to Develop Ships of the Future', that such convergence ships as a 'Crusium', a combination of terms, a cruise and a stadium, and a 'Mobile Resort', an artificial resort ship, will be the leaders in the shipbuilding market in the days to come. "To foster these ships, both the government and the private sectors need to join forces to develop R&D technology, provide an industry-academia curriculum, and refurbish the ship financing system, while pushing ahead programs for large-scale state-run project transactions".

Speaking on 'The Virtual Reality Industry', President Heung Nam Kim of the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) asserted, "By having virtual reality technology fuse with a variety of areas, we will be able to bring about future convergence industries". He also pointed out some of the problems with the virtual reality industry such as delay in the release of new products due to insufficient core technology, lack of professional research institutes, and government regulations on virtual telemedicine. If the virtual reality industry is activated, a virtual reality contents market that would create about 50,000 jobs in 2020 will be possible.

Presenting his topic, 'Roles of Colleges and Corporations in Fostering Creative Talents', Prof. Tae Jin Kang of Seoul National University noted, "A creative economy will be developed by R&D venture businesses and open innovation". The professor also presented analysis of some of the problems with education of natural science and engineering, including the faculty evaluation system which does not focus on education, and the inefficient master's and doctorate program which requires more than seven years, and emphasized the importance of a change in corporate recruitment criteria, and corporate role in fostering human resources.

The Federation's special panel on the creative economy plans to explore issues, and announce projects with specific action programs every month except in August.