The Divsion of Public Science at Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) hosted the 7th "Public Science" lecture at 2:00 PM on the 28th in Geun-saram Hall of the Global Talent Center, inviting Professor Emeritus Kim Geun-bae, former Dean of the College of Natural Science and a leading authority on the history of science and technology, as the speaker.

This special lecture commemorated the publication of Professor Kim Geun-bae's major work, Engineers Built the Republic of Korea (published by Eum), a monumental 1,000-page narrative in which he and fellow scholars reconstructed the lives of 30 key figures who forged technological, industrial, and social innovation amid Korea's turbulent modern history. The event was organized to celebrate the book's release and to share its scholarly value.

In his lecture, Professor Kim vividly recounted the struggles and fighting spirit that propelled the Republic of Korea from a peripheral technology nation to a global advanced manufacturing power (Engineering Korea), ranging from the giants who laid the foundation for the semiconductor industry to Gong Byung-woo, who led the mechanization of Hangul.

Professor Kim emphasized, "The lives of engineers who wove the era forward despite limited resources in the past serve as a mirror that illuminates the direction our science policy and talent development should take at this moment of major transformation."

Third-year student Gil Chae-eun of the Divsion of Public Science, who attended the lecture, said, "It was a meaningful opportunity to gain a comprehensive understanding of how the theories of the public policy legislative process I had only encountered in textbooks intersect with the history of science and technology R&D and legislative practice that changed the fate of the Republic of Korea."

Professor Heo Gang-mu of the Divsion of Public Science, who planned the lecture, stated, "The event was organized to provide students with vivid insights into the 'science policy legislative process'—how science and technology policy and R&D talent development paradigms that determine the nation's future are implemented as national policy through actual legislation and institutionalization."