1. Explain your most important accomplishment and explain why you think it as such. (Less than 400 words)

The most important accomplishment I made in my career is to have established an investigation process of Intellectual Property (IP) criminal cases in an efficient way while working for the Supreme Prosecutors Office (SPO) from 2009 to 2011.

I was chosen to join SPO as a legal and technical adviser in IP along with other two members of the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) in response to the request of SPO. I was in charge of the IP advisory body. At that time, SPO was having a great difficulty in handling IP criminal cases because prosecutors able to deal with IP cases were rarely seen.

My main mission was to advise prosecutors on whether the accused infringes the plaintiff's IP right or not. However, there were some obstacles I faced. Above all, there was no better than nothing when it comes to guidelines for solving IP cases in SPO. In fact, some staff in SPO did not acknowledge our professionalism with regard to the IP cases from the beginning because of overconfidence as criminal case experts. Besides, the other members from KIPO did not have much enthusiasm for our mission because our job was temporary.

To tackle these problems, I made a study group to study IP and its related issues with prosecutors who were interested in IP fields, discussed with them on specific IP issues twice a month, and put the study results on the intranet to share the information with other staff. Meanwhile, I made a practical guideline for handling IP cases and shared it with all Prosecutors Offices nationwide by posting it on the intranet. In addition, I tried my best to conduct the basic tasks such as an advisory role in the IP infringement cases making an effort to convince other members of the advisory body.

In these efforts, I gained winning prosecutors' confidence and I won the award from the Public Prosecutor General for the contributions that I made.

Looking backward, it was a great experience to see the patent system from a standpoint of criminal law, which is a precious asset to me. Likewise, if I have a chance to join the KDI School, I will be able to get a valuable experience to look at the patent system from a different perspective. That is the first reason I apply for the KDI School.

1. Describe your research interest with regard to your career vision. (Less than 400 words)

My career vision is to become a top specialist in IP fields who is even capable of designing a national IP policy as well. So far I have made an effort to become an IP specialist. I did not have many experiences in making IP policy. This made me feel less confident as an IP specialist. Therefore, I would like to join the KDI School and earn practical knowledge about coordinating policy. That will be a great asset to me when returning to KIPO.

I am especially interested in a policy for protecting employee inventions efficiently, which accounted for only 66.5 percent of all inventions in 1993 but reached 84 percent in 2010. Employee inventions, which are inventions created on the job by employees of companies and research institutes, prevail in Korea. However, it appears that employee inventions are not protected as well as expected. While working with the Supreme Prosecutors office, I felt sorry for ex-employees because employers sued against the ex-employees for their using companys technique after their retirement.

I would like to establish a dispute settlement system in the IP field to make both employees and employers satisfied. To this end, I need to gain various experiences in other fields such as economics, science of public administration, etc. That is the second reason I apply for the KDI School.

1. Describe your potential contributions to the class if you were to receive admission to the KDI School. (Less than 400 words)

If given the admission to the KDI School, I could make the following contributions to the class.

I can help the class to bring together respecting one anothers diversity and to maintain a good relationship even after graduating from the KDI School, which could stimulate and improve one another in various ways. For instance, I can provide the class with various IP knowledge which comes from the experience of solving a variety of IP cases in SPO as well as the experience as a patent examiner and a trial examiner in KIPO.

I am good at organizing things and making plans with the experiences such as an officer during military service and a section head currently. Besides, I can make the atmosphere of the class friendly with my reliable, care-giving and open-minded characteristics. For example, I am leading an English study group whose members consist of officials who completed a government officials English course 3 months ago.

I have the spirit to gladly sacrifice myself for other classmates in need of help. For instance, I can help foreign students adjust to settling down in Korea by inviting them to my house, becoming a guide for sightseeing, discussing cultures of one another, teaching them Korean or doing the activities together. In addition, I would like to be a mentor to the younger students.

I will actively participate in the class activities and cooperate with other classmates to fulfill above contributions.

1. List any additional comments here. (Less than 400 words)

I would like to make contributions to making a global patent law which all countries should comply with, so that patent offices around the world may examine patent applications under the same examination criteria.

I think harmonization of substantial examination on patentability can be achieved by not only knowledge of the patent, but also in-depth understanding of other nations' culture and various knowledge including economics, science of public administration, etc. That is the third reason I would like to be in the KDI School.

I will do my best with a creative attitude if given this opportunity. I look forward to pursuing my studies at the KDI School.