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New Reform Party presidential candidate Lee Jun-seok visits Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul on May 1, as part of his "Let’s Eat Campus Meals with Lee Jun-seok" campaign to engage with college students. / Yonhap News

New Reform Party presidential candidate Lee Jun-seok unveiled a bold policy proposal on May 7 aimed at preventing the outflow of top-tier science and engineering talent by offering Olympic gold medalist-level rewards and national honors.

Lee’s plan includes introducing a “Scientific Achievement Pension” and a “Fast-Track Program for Scientists” as part of a broader initiative to treat leading researchers as national scientific heroes.

The proposal would grant pension benefits to Korean nationals working in domestic universities, government research institutes, corporate R&D labs, and national agencies, based on the scale and impact of their research achievements. Eligible individuals would also include freelancers or organization-affiliated researchers with recognized contributions and no record of research misconduct in the past decade.

Under the plan, winners of globally prestigious awards like the Nobel Prize, Turing Award, or Fields Medal would receive a one-time bonus of 500 million won and a monthly pension of 5 million won. Winners of other international science awards would receive 100 million won and a 1 million won monthly pension. Recipients of Korea’s top national science honors, such as the Order of Science and Technology Innovation, would receive 50 million won and 500,000 won per month.

Researchers with highly rated academic papers would also be eligible for monthly stipends, graded by achievement: A-grade papers would receive up to 1 million won per paper (with a cap of 5 million won monthly), B-grade 500,000 won (up to 2.5 million won), and C-grade 250,000 won (up to 1 million won). Payments would be determined on a per-paper basis, with cumulative performance affecting the total payout.

For the fast-track program, eligibility would extend to those who meet at least one of the following: first or corresponding authors of SCI-level papers, presenters at international conferences, researchers dispatched by state or public agencies, or those traveling for patent or tech transfer purposes. Qualified individuals would receive expedited immigration and administrative privileges similar to those of diplomats.

“Retaining top scientific talent is essential to securing national competitiveness in advanced science and technology,” Lee said. “Yet we continue to see a brain drain in the STEM fields. One major cause appears to be the government’s recent cuts to research funding, which has demoralized the scientific community. Now is the time for policies that can prevent this exodus.”