At 11:30 a.m. on the 30th, President Lee Myung-bak had a 20-minute conversation with four reporters at the Blue House. During the conversation, which was not pre-announced, President Lee burst out laughing at a certain question. The scene was as follows. A reporter asked, “So did ‘that person’ mention the quantum (computer)?” President Lee, who had been sipping coffee, suddenly burst out laughing at the reporter’s question. The reporter continued, “I heard that at the dinner meeting with the staff on the 28th, you mentioned that you had talked with ‘that person’ about quantum (computer).” President Lee, who had been holding back his laughter, could not help but show his burst of laughter. The reporter then asked, “Did you really have a conversation about quantum (computer)? And what did ‘that person’ say?” President Lee, still smiling, replied, “No, I was just making conversation. I was just saying that I had heard about it.” When asked, “Who is ‘that person’?” President Lee replied, “You know who I mean.” The reporter pressed, “Is it the person who was elected as the Nobel laureate in Physics?” President Lee just smiled and did not respond further. The reporters who witnessed the scene said, “President Lee seemed to enjoy the conversation a lot.” Another reporter said, “President Lee seemed to be in a very relaxed mood, which was a rare sight.” On the 28th, President Lee had dinner with his staff at a restaurant in Hongdae, Seoul. At the dinner, President Lee reportedly mentioned that he had talked with a renowned physicist about quantum computers. It is not confirmed who the person is, but it appears that the reporter was referring to the Nobel laureate in Physics, Dr. Gerard ‘t Hooft, who visited Korea on the 27th. Dr. ‘t Hooft, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1999, visited Korea to attend the 2011 Seoul Science Festival. On the 27th, Dr. ‘t Hooft had a short conversation with President Lee at the festival. At the meeting, President Lee reportedly mentioned that he had been paying attention to the development of quantum computers. Dr. ‘t Hooft is known to have expressed his interest in cooperating with Korea in the development of quantum computers.
On December 12th, the Presidential Secretariat held a "Future Growth Power and 7 Seed (SEED) Report Meeting" where an unexpected laugh erupted among attendees at the President's words. Science and Information and Communications Technology Minister Bae Hoon chuckled with one hand covering his face. At this meeting, the President spoke to a college student urging support for quantum research, mentioning "during last May, together with Congresswoman More Sustainable (Korea Democratic Party), we also held a conference."
Saying these words, the President smiled, mentioning "the President" and "quantum." This action was likely due to the controversy surrounding last year's Congresswoman More Sustainable, who was criticized during the investigation period for holding her daughter's wedding ceremony at the National Assembly. On October 18th of last year, Congresswoman More Sustainable's daughter's wedding ceremony took place at the National Assembly, and two days later, on October 20th, Deputy Defense Minister Park Jung-hoon criticized this as "very inappropriate."
Deputy Defense Minister Park said, "It's hard to imagine holding a daughter's wedding ceremony in the National Assembly during the government investigation period, and I'm sure everyone in the intelligence agency and broadcasting industry had done the same. A considerable number of media personnel and news agency employees even found venues for these weddings."
In response, Congresswoman More Sustainable requested her daughter to dress neatly the day before to avoid such a situation, but her daughter did not seem to care about the family's wedding ceremony. Congresswoman More Sustainable stated, "When I look at my testimony, I barely slept because I was studying quantum mechanics. Every day, I study quantum mechanics and memorize the encryption of security codes."
She then apologized sincerely, saying, "I didn't care about household chores or my daughter's wedding ceremony. I really feel bad about it." On the other hand, Congresswoman More Sustainable mentioned on the 13th that "quantum has entered the 7 Seed project of the Republic of Korea. Even beyond the broadcasting industry, in the field of science and technology, who will take care of the quantum sector?" she said.
Congresswoman More Sustainable added, "I hope the Quantum Promotion Act, which I proposed through a resolution, will work well."
Written by urgent.news from Hankyoreh's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
