Control Tower for the Future Survival Strategy ( I.P. Daily Newspaper on November 11,2022 ) Myung Shin Kim Advisor, The Presidential Council on Intellectual Property
The Presidential Council on Intellectual Property (PCIP) is the highest advising organization on I.P. under the President, according to the I.P. Framework Law (IPFL) that came into force in 2011. The PCIP was established for the effective execution of I.P. policies because, at that time, thirteen separate Ministries and Agencies executed I.P. policies. Even now, eleven Ministries and Agencies have submitted bills for enacting or amending laws on Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) to the National Assembly. Therefore, the PCIP must strengthen its role and powers. When the PCIP was established in 2011, the Prime Minister's Office managed its business. However, the Ministry of Science, Technology, Information, and Communication now manages the business of the PCIP. Even though the PCIP is an organization under the President, its function and role became weak, and the Ministers concerned no longer attend meetings because the President has no significant concerns about I.P. policies. These days, advanced technology has become a critical security issue due to the political and economic conflict between the U.S. and China. We live in the digital economy era in which the value addition is maximized as a result of a combination between science, technology, culture and art. Although our natural resources are few, fortunately, we have a relatively high educational level. In this environment, we very much need a control tower for setting up our future survival strategy. Further, we need to increase the budget of the PCIP and strengthen its role to adjust the policies between the Ministries and Agencies concerned. Nevertheless, the Presidential Office announced that the PCIP will belong to the Prime Minister. I understand that the number of Committees belonging to the President is too much, and some must be transferred to the Prime Minister or the Ministries concerned. Further, I agree that because the Prime Minister is in charge of fifty-one Committees, some must be transferred to each Ministry. But Mr. Sang Jo Jong, chairperson of the PCIP, resigned because the function and role of the PCIP will be weakened. I led the fight for the enaction of the IPFL, and now, am deeply concerned that the PCIP, which sets up our future survival strategy, will be transferred to the Prime Minister as one of the fifty-one Committees because we must prepare a more active policy for K-pop, cinema, drama, the defense industry, software, computer games, fashion, sport, semi-conductors, shipbuilding, automobiles, cosmetics, etc., which are our primary export goods. In June 2022, the International Management Development Institute in Switzerland announced the evaluation report on I.P. Policy Execution among 64 countries worldwide. Korea ranked in thirty-seventh place. Referring to these statistics, we must set up a new I.P. Ministry which deals with industrial property and copyright matters together to bring a synergy effect in the execution of I.P. policies, similar to those in the U.K., Canada, Switzerland, Belgium, Thailand, Singapore, Hungary, and Luxembourg. Very recently, U.S. Senator Thom Tillis began preparing a bill for integrating the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the U.S. Copyright Office. Further, the Korean Federation of Intellectual Property Societies, the National Academy of Engineering of Korea, Mr. Nak Yeon Lee, Mr. Sye Kyun Chung (former Prime Ministers and former Chairpersons of the PCIP), Mr. Jong Yong Yoon and Mr. Sang Jo Jong (former Chairpersons of the PCIP) have supported to set up a new I.P. Ministry. Finally, I hope that a new I.P. Ministry will deal with all kinds of I.P. matters in order for Korea to survive under the intense international brain war while the President shows much greater concerns about I.P. |
