[fn Editorial] Need a Special Strategy to Retain Departing Talent and Attract Foreign Brains

If the number of foreign talents residing in the country increases by one million, there will be an economic effect equivalent to 6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is according to the 'Economic Impact Report on Attracting Foreign Citizens' jointly researched by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Professor Kim Deokpa's team from Korea University, published on the 13th. According to this, if the ratio of registered foreigners to the economically active population increases by 1 percentage point, the Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) per capita increases by 0.11%. The research team used this estimate to calculate that the influx of one million registered foreigners could result in an economic effect equivalent to 145 trillion won, or 6.0% of GDP. The influx of foreign talent should be viewed not only from the perspective of population expansion but also from the perspective of maximizing domestic consumption power, productivity, and industrial competitiveness.

The Chamber of Commerce proposed various ideas to attract foreign talent, such as constructing specialized cities for foreign residents and nurturing foreign talent tailored to the domestic market. The core of the specialized cities for foreign residents is to attract industrial clusters and related companies to areas with infrastructure capacity, and to establish visa benefits, tax reductions, and educational and medical infrastructure.

There was also a suggestion to make this a mega sandbox area to use as a model for groundbreaking incentives and regulatory improvements. This aligns with the recent proposal by Choi Taewon, chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, to build an English hub city for foreign AI talent. The intention is to create a foundation where high-level foreign talents can smoothly settle in the country, and it is necessary for the government and local governments to actively refer to this.

The shortage of talent in advanced fields is an urgent national task. While technological talents are continuously leaving the country, attracting high-level foreign talents is not smooth due to various barriers. It is a pitiful situation where domestic talents are taken by foreign countries, foreign talents are not properly attracted, and the few talents that are recruited cannot be retained. According to the Chamber of Commerce's research institute, the Sustainable Growth Initiative (SGI), Korea is a representative country of AI talent outflow. Last year, Korea ranked 35th out of 38 OECD countries in terms of net AI talent outflow per 10,000 people, at -0.36. At this rate, the government's goal of becoming one of the top three AI powerhouses is out of reach.

The root causes of the shortage of high-level talents must be thoroughly examined to establish special measures. In Silicon Valley, USA, engineering talents are recruited with a starting salary of $400,000. A reward system commensurate with abilities must be quickly established. The reason why nine ministries, including the Ministry of Science and ICT, hastily launched a public-private joint task force (TF) to prevent and attract technological talent is due to this.

At the first meeting held recently, TF civilian chairman Kyung Gyehyun, former president of Samsung Electronics, made a sharp remark, saying, "Korea is not an attractive place for scientists and engineers." He pointed out that compensation and working conditions are absolutely inferior. The TF plans to prepare an implementation plan by September and promote it as the new government's first talent policy. There are many topics to discuss, such as policies that can be changed immediately, like the visa system, and tasks that require fundamental long-term reform. We hope to create and present a vision of Korea where technological talents flock.