The rank of Korean Minister of Science and Technology (Minister of MOST) was raised to Deputy Prime Minister as the revised Government Organization Law was passed the National Assembly on 2 Sep. 04. This elevation demonstrates the government's firm policy to place much priority to the nation's endeavors for science and technology.

The Korean National Assembly also passed the revision of Basic Science and Technology Law thus the nation's all government supported science and technology research institutes are integrated into MOST (Ministry of Science and Technology) for overall planning, coordination, evaluation and resources allocation.