Management of research projects of academic support projects and freedom of academic activities of researchers: Focusing on academic support projects in the field of humanities and social sciences

Researchers have academic freedom guaranteed by the Constitution, regardless of the field of research. Because the research results created by researchers through academic freedom are ultimately created as social or economic benefits, governments and universities in each country are conducting so-called 'academic support projects' that provide research funds to researchers on a large scale. In South Korea, the Ministry of Education has designated the National Research Foundation of Korea as the leading institution to promote various academic support projects not only for individual researchers but also for institutions such as universities and research institutes. However, whether the research support project of the National Research Foundation of Korea effectively and fairly supports the academic and R&D activities of researchers, whether the management of research results through the project, and the regulation of researchers are appropriate, and whether it infringes on the academic activities of researchers. Supreme Court decision has recently been pronounced that the excessive management of academic and R&D activities by the National Research Foundation of Korea infringes on researchers' academic freedom and goes against the stance of abolishing regulations on research aimed at by the government. In this paper, we examine what the basis of the current laws and regulations are for the regulation of the submission and management of final research results in relation to the National Research Foundation of Korea's academic support project in the field of humanities and social sciences, and how it affects the academic freedom of researchers. In addition, I will examine how the court understands the relationship between the freedom of academic activities of researchers and the regulation of academic support projects in real cases.