KAIST, the Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning, and the Commemoration Enterprise Support Board jointly hosted the 'Future Generation's Open Square 2045' to discuss our nation’s future goals for 2045, the 100th anniversary of National Liberation. This relay debate forum, which kicked off on September 22 in Konkuk University, discusses the future of the next 30 years our nation from the eyes of the young generation.

At this event, the panel and audience will debate on topics such as unemployment and the solution to societal problems here in Korea, such as the high youth unemployment rate at 11.1% (February, 2015) or the high percentage (34.9 %) of zombie companies accounting for the non-financial stock market (October, 2015).

On the first day of the debate, after a brief introductory video, the host introduced topics of discussion such as employment and economic reforms. Then, Professor Jeakweon Han from HanYang University’s Department of Interdisciplinary Engineering Systems lectured on the consequences of robot automation in future unemployment problems, followed by an open performance where a human-sized robot was presented.

This reflects the new labor paradigm created by the advancement of robots. As automatons replace human laborers, jobs are created and destroyed. The professor emphasized the importance of adjusting to technological advancements to avoid structural unemployment.

Members of the audience then gave their opinions on future employment policies by participating through smartphone apps and real-time voting. The submitted opinions were saved in a time capsule to be opened in 2045, the 100th anniversary of National Liberation Day.

The KAIST Graduate School of Future Strategy will host debate forums of different topics in Daegu(education), Daejeon(science technology), Busan(reunification diplomacy), and Gwangju(culture). The final symposium will be held in Seoul.