Why Korea's innovators miss the payoff (KOR)

Moon Hong-kyu

The author is a principal researcher at the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute. 

The audience in the lecture hall was quiet, as if cold water had been poured over them. If there had been a winding clock in the room, its ticking might have been audible. As I explained why the U.S. Air Force produced maps of Mars 64 years ago and described the connection between asteroid probes and guided missiles, I received nothing. No reactions. Not even a smile.

Even renowned speakers struggle with certain audiences. Some are dragged into the room against their will. They doze off or spend their time silently assigning scores to the lecturer in their head. I had grown confident that I had overcome that hurdle. I was mistaken. That day, something felt out of sync.

Then a change became noticeable.

It came when I mentioned Company S, Company N and Company R, listed companies on the Kosdaq market that cooperate with a project that I belong to, along with several promising private businesses. These firms are involved in projects ranging from scientific instruments for NASA lunar landers to the Artemis II CubeSat mission and joint Korea-NASA satellite and telescope development efforts.

I usually turn off the lights when a lecture begins because my presentations rely heavily on images. Once my eye adjust to the darkness, I can see the audience more clearly. This time, they were busy. They were taking notes, conducting searches and seemingly running AI agents. The audience consisted of more than 100 members of a stock-investment study group. They did not even have time to laugh.

When the lecture ended, questions poured in. Among the attendees were venture capital investors, the head of a law firm, students, homemakers and retirees. On my way home, I received copies of participants' notes, though calling them notes hardly seemed appropriate. They amounted to the length of a short book.

The volume alone was impressive, but the level of analysis was even more striking. A two-hour lecture had been transformed almost instantly into an investment guide.

Some countries have systems in which capital allocation functions like interlocking gears. In the United States, researchers are broadly permitted to establish companies and retain ownership stakes. Germany and France have public systems that channel capital gains back into research ecosystems.

There is an old expression about "making clothes for others." It refers to spending all night sewing garments, only to hand them over to someone else without ever wearing them yourself.

Korean researchers also stay up through the night making clothes. Why, then, do so many end up with nothing in their hands?

Because the gear that should connect achievement with reward is missing altogether. Without that mechanism, innovation may be created, but the benefits flow elsewhere, leaving those who produced the value standing apart from the wealth generated by their own work.

톱니바퀴

문홍규 한국천문연구원 책임연구원

강의실을 메운 청중은 찬물을 끼얹은 듯 조용했다. 태엽 시계가 있다면 재깍거리는 기계음이 들릴 것 같았다. 64년 전 미국 공군이 화성 지도를 만든 이유와 소행성 탐사선과 항법 유도 미사일의 공통점을 설명했지만, 아무 반응이 없었다. 유명 강사들도 어려워하는 청중이 있다. 그들은 억지로 끌려 나와서 졸거나 점수를 매긴다. 필자는 그 문턱을 넘었다고 자만했는데, 착각이었다. 그날은 뭔가 어긋나고 있었다.

그런데 변화가 감지됐다. 필자가 속한 프로젝트에 협력하는 S사와 N사, R사 등 코스닥 상장기업과 다른 비상장 유망 업체를 입에 올릴 때였다. NASA 달 착륙선 과학 장비와 아르테미스 2 큐브샛, 한-NASA 공동 과학위성과 망원경 개발로 손잡은 기업들이다. 필자는 강연이 시작되면 불을 끈다. 그림 위주의 강의라서다. 어둠에 눈이 익자 관객이 눈에 들어온다. 뭔가 하고 있다. 메모하고 검색하며 AI 에이전트를 돌리는 것 같았다. 주식투자 공부모임 회원 100여 명. 그들은 웃을 겨를조차 없었다. 강의를 마치자, 질문을 쏟아낸다. 벤처투자자, 법무법인 대표, 학생과 주부, 은퇴자들도 있다. 집에 오는 길, 수강생 메모를 전해 받았다. 말이 메모지, 단행본 한 권 분량이다. 양도 양이려니와 분석 수준이 심상찮다. 두 시간짜리 강의가 눈 깜짝할 사이에 투자 지침서로 탈바꿈하다니.

세상엔 자본 배분이 톱니바퀴처럼 맞물린 나라들이 있다. 미국은 연구자 창업과 지분 보유를 폭넓게 허용하는가 하면, 독일과 프랑스는 자본 이익이 연구 생태계에 흘러 들어가게끔 공공 시스템을 갖췄다. 위인작의(爲人作衣). 밤새 눈이 침침해질 때까지 옷을 짓고도 입지 못하고 남에게 준다는 뜻이다. 우리 연구자들도 밤새 옷을 짓는데, 왜 손에 쥐는 게 없을까? 성과와 그 몫을 잇는 톱니바퀴가 통째로 빠졌기 때문이다.