“There are no 20s in our department. If you ask college juniors, they say they don’t even write a job application at the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (Hang Woo-yeon). If you go to a semiconductor or automobile company, you get double your annual salary, but you don’t have to do high-level work under stress. Many young researchers who used to work here have recently moved to private companies or other government-funded research institutes (appearances). I feel weird.”

This is the reality reported by a researcher working at Hangwooyeon, which was praised by the public for the successful third launch of the Nuri last month. The Korea Aerospace Research Institute is a government-funded research institute and is a key institution for researching aerospace science and technology in Korea. It is the place where Korea’s first lunar probe Danuri and Korean launch vehicle Nuri were developed and successfully launched. The ‘world’s 7th largest space power’ is the fruit of decades of sweat shed by anti-coincidence researchers.

However, the treatment received by researchers who have built one of the world’s leading space powers is poor enough to be one of the best in Korea. Their worries and sighs, which were hidden by the cheers of the people, are only recently becoming known one by one. Currently, there are only two lawsuits related to allowances in progress at Hangwooyeon.

The protagonists of Korea’s first lunar exploration vessel ‘Danuri’ did not receive 100 million won in research allowance

The lunar exploration vessel Danuri, developed by Korea Aerospace Research Institute and launched in August last year, succeeded in entering lunar orbit in December, making Korea the seventh lunar exploration country in the world. However, 16 researchers from the lunar exploration project team, who are the main players in Danuri development, are in litigation because they did not receive 100 million won in research allowances. This is because the Ministry of Science and ICT (Ministry of Science and ICT) and Korea Aerospace Research Institute did not pay allowances, saying that moon exploration research was virtually suspended due to external inspections from January to May 2019. In response, the researchers filed a lawsuit against the management for payment of research allowances in April 2020, and the Daejeon District Court sided with the researchers in April of last year, saying, “It is true that they conducted research work.”

However, Hang Woo-yeon, who lost in the first trial, filed an appeal by appointing a large law firm in Seoul, Pacific, in addition to the existing law firm in Daejeon. It is estimated that the cost of legal representation alone is in the tens of millions of won. Moreover, Lee Sang-ryul, the head of the Korea Institute of Hangwoo, who proceeded with the appeal, was a researcher who led the ‘Moon Exploration Project Management Committee’ at the time, and knew the hard work of the researchers better than anyone else. Representative plaintiff Song Jae-hun, senior researcher at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology, said, “The director who worked with us on the lunar exploration project even appealed, so we had to work in a sense of human disappointment, betrayal, and resentment.”

In the final remarks made by senior researcher Song Jae-hoon at the second trial held last month, the bare face of Hang Woo-yeon was revealed. He said, “We have only faithfully performed the labor of research and development for the national task toward the moon.” I am standing here after more than three years of court battles because I did not receive a research allowance, which is a clear price for work.”

What is the reason why the government and the Korea Anti-Industry Association pay tens of thousands of won in litigation costs and do not give benefits? An anti-coincidence official explained, “The first trial court ruled that the research allowance was in the nature of a wage, so we had no choice but to appeal because the repercussions were very large.” If the research allowance is recognized as wages by the court, the government is trying to prevent this because the labor cost to be borne by the government as a whole increases. A second trial judgment is scheduled for next month.

There is no allowance even if you work 3 shifts and holidays… Emphasize only “patriotism”

According to the Hangwooyeon branch of the National Union of Science and Technology Workers, Hangwooyeon is not properly paying night and holiday work allowances. The satellite total assembly test center of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute is the only place in Korea where space environment tests can be conducted, and all domestic satellites undergo final tests here before launch. Because the space environment test is conducted continuously for 24 hours, the researchers here work in three shifts and go to work even on holidays if there is a test schedule.

A researcher who requested anonymity said, “There is no system for applying for night work allowances.” An agreement between labor and management was also attempted, but it failed, and eight researchers eventually filed a lawsuit in April claiming 30 million won for night and holiday work allowances they had not received from September 2019 to April 2022 .

Researcher Lee said, “What we want is to be treated only according to the labor law. In fact, when the issue of non-payment of allowances by Hangwooyeon was reported in the media in April, former President Cho Kwang-rae (2014-2017) said on his social network service (SNS), “I have worked countless overtime and holiday work over the past 35 years, but not once . No money was requested or received. He wrote, “It is about the pride and honor of a person who researches with national tax money.” It emphasized a sense of mission and sacrifice as a scientist rather than a fair price for labor.

Regarding the non-payment of nighttime and holiday work allowances, an official from the Korea Anti-Industry Association said, “It is not that the allowances were not paid intentionally, and there were no allowance-related regulations. ”he said.

Woo-Yeon Hang , the ‘last in annual salary’ vs. NASA, the ‘Best Employer’

The salary is also very low. According to the National Science and Technology Research Council ( NST ), the starting salary of a college graduate last year was around 38 million won, which was the 21st lowest among 25 government-funded research institutes under the Ministry of Science and ICT. Places with lower starting salaries than Hangwoon are affiliated research institutes, such as the Safety Evaluation Research Institute and the World Kimchi Research Institute. The starting salaries of master’s and doctoral researchers (43 million won for master’s degree, 50 million won for doctoral degree) are also low. An anonymous researcher said, “A researcher with a doctoral degree earned less than a major researcher with a bachelor’s degree.”

Shin Myeong-ho, head of the Hangwooyeon branch, said, “Anhangwooyeon requires a lot of mechanical engineering and electrical and electronics-related majors, and these majors are needed in other fields as well.” There is no reason,” he said. He said, “Recently, a successful applicant went elsewhere without joining the company, saying the salary was too low.” Researchers who joined in the past received relatively high salaries, but the wages of those who joined recently were lower , so the annual salaries of researchers in their

20s and early 40s are particularly low. As a result, it is not uncommon for young researchers who worked at Hangwoon to move to private companies with high salaries or universities with a guaranteed retirement age. Top-level researchers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA

) , which plays the same role as Korea’s anti-incident research institute, have a basic annual salary of about 200,000 to 300 million won. NASA has also been ranked #1 in the ‘Best Employers’ list for 10 consecutive years among large federal government agencies. Kim Seung-ho, head of the Personnel Innovation Department, visited the U.S. last month to learn about NASA’s talent recruitment know-how. ‘Space X’, an American space exploration company founded by Elon Musk, is known to have a starting salary of about 500 million won for a master’s degree. However, the current reality in Korea is that there are no regulations regarding night and holiday work allowances, so lawsuits are being filed to pay them.

Regulation of total labor cost by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance → Low wages, vicious cycle of non-payment of benefits

Why are anti-incident researchers being treated so poorly?스포츠토토 The labor cost of anti-coincidence researchers is controlled by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. Set the total labor cost each year and use it only within that limit. This total amount itself is low, and night and holiday work allowances are only paid within this limit, so if you receive the allowance, your wages will decrease. In addition, even if Hangwooyeon earns more money than the total amount set by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance through a lot of business, not a single penny can be spent on labor costs other than the total amount set by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.

Last year, as the issue of low treatment at Hangwooyeon became known to the outside world, there was a high voice calling for an increase in the total labor cost, but it was canceled due to the opposition of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. Shin Myeong-ho, head of the branch, said, “The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said that if the total labor cost limit is raised without injecting additional budget, we will raise the wage by filling the labor cost with the excess labor cost and settlement surplus secured through entrusted tasks, etc., but even this was rejected.” He said, “Unless the labor cost structure, such as the government’s increase in total labor costs and permission to use allowances for remaining labor costs, is not resolved, the problem of anti-coincidence will not be resolved.”

Choi Jong-yeon, an attorney at Law Firm for non-payment of nighttime and holiday work allowances, said, “Regulations on total labor costs should be eased so that statutory overtime work allowances, unused annual leave allowances, and compensation leave settlements are widely recognized as exceptions to total labor costs in order to improve working conditions. “It can be improved,” he said. “Otherwise, this problem will repeat itself.”

In the end, unless the government eases regulations on labor costs for anti-incident research, it is difficult to solve the problem of low treatment of researchers, resulting outflow of manpower, and securing talent. An official from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute said, “The government will have difficulties raising the wages of only the Korea Aerospace Research Institute among 25 government-funded research institutes.” ” he said.