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Across the country, transition committees announcing the start of the 9th popularly elected city/provincial government are beginning full-fledged activities, heralding different changes. Busan is showing its will to make an immediate drive to resolve people's livelihood issues by deploying young, professional, practical personnel to the forefront under the slogan 'Busan running again'. Gyeongnam also formed a small working-level preparation team to specify key policies while ensuring the continuity of the existing provincial government, and Ulsan is emphasizing communicative leadership by forming a thoroughly expert-centered working-level team in the name of blocking the so-called 'occupation army' controversy. Yeosu is also refining its policy stance by recruiting experts in each field under the banner of citizen sovereignty and local-led growth. These movements are encouraging in that they are moving away from the conventional transition committee operations of the past and are moving towards pragmatic steps that improve practical administrative efficiency and the lives of citizens.

On the other hand, the 'twin vote' controversy that heated up our society after the election became a clear example of the conflict between science and politics. In response to allegations of election fraud raised by some in the political world, Professor Emeritus Heo Myung-hoe of Korea University attempted to quell the controversy by dismissing it as a 'mathematically possible coincidence' from a statistical perspective. He analyzed the probability of matching voting results using a coin toss model, and expressed his scholarly convictions by pointing out that the bigger problem was the administrative ignorance of the National Election Commission, which caused a shortage of ballot papers. This debate once again reminds us why rational thinking based on data is necessary in an environment where political investigations can easily distort facts. In the end, the voices of academics who point out the possibility that political suspicions arise from statistical ignorance painfully suggest what must come first for a mature democracy in our society.

Behind the political controversy, there is also the agony of scholars who are considering a new regulatory system suitable for the era of great digital transformation. Jeong-Hoon Lee, a professor at Chung-Ang University, argued that the controversy over gambling in web3 games and virtual asset trading should be reexamined from a legal perspective, and emphasized the need for institutional flexibility tailored to the changed market environment. This stems from the awareness that rigid regulations that do not keep up with the pace of technological development can actually hinder the healthy growth of the industry. In addition, Professor Jaeso Cho of Seoul National University Bundang Hospital is proving the possibility of how data can realize patient-tailored precision medicine in actual medical settings by standardizing pediatric neurological clinical data and incorporating digital healthcare technology. In this way, experts in various fields, including law and medicine, are drawing elaborate blueprints to transform technology into social value based on knowledge accumulated in the field.

Efforts by intellectuals to brighten the future of our society continue in the field of education and research. The fact that Professor Koo Sang-mo and Professor Jeon Jin-ho of Kwangwoon University received presidential commendations in recognition of their contributions in the fields of next-generation power semiconductors and energy diplomacy, respectively, confirms once again that basic academics and technological development are the foundation of national competitiveness. In addition, the fact that actor Kim Nam-gil and Professor Seo Gyeong-deok took part in activities to publicize the historical significance of the June 10 Independence Movement also shows that remembering and passing on past history is an important task in establishing the identity of our society. Although these individual efforts may seem disjointed at first glance, they ultimately have something in common: making our society stronger around the three axes of 'people', 'technology', and 'history'. Scholars are taking the lead in designing a better future by fulfilling their social responsibility for knowledge in various areas of society beyond the classroom and laboratory.