On September 22, KAIST signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Korea Strategic Trade Institute (KOSTI) – an institute affiliated with the Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE) – for the establishment of a management system for strategic technology. The MOU will require foreign transfers of strategic technologies that KAIST is developing or researching to be approved by the government beforehand, allowing the technologies to be better protected.

Specifically, KAIST and KOSTI will cooperate on setting up a procedure for in-campus strategic technology management, developing and implementing a management program for strategic technology with standards similar to programs in foreign nations, increasing the awareness of in-campus personnel on the protection and management of strategic technology through education and promotions.

Management of strategic technology is crucial for preventing domestically developed strategic technology from falling to the hands of terrorist groups or countries that have diplomatic security concerns. With increasing technology transfers and research activities, KAIST may be exposed to illegal transfers of strategic technology. One case of such an illegal transfer is that of a professor in the United States who collaborated with a company and then transferred some of the technological data to a Chinese citizen. The professor was sentenced to 48 months of imprisonment and 2 years of probation.

Meanwhile MKE announced the “2015 Strategic Resource Management System Development Strategy” and chose 14 tasks – including legislating intangible transfer of technology – in four main areas: establishing an advanced legal system, renewing the awareness on strategic technology, reinforcing the support for executing the system and setting up the foundation for improving the management system.