You do not have to take sides in the dispute on which is more important. It's a silly argument anyway. Both are necessary.

An example: which is more important, food or water? Yet nobody only drinks water and eat no food, or eat just dry food and drink no water. You need both.

Similarly, we need both kinds of research. "Strike a balance" is not bad advice. The country needs to strike a balance. But individual researchers do not need to. They can do whatever they like. You're not going to be the sole researcher in the entire country.

But practically, you do not get to choose. What you end up doing depends on what job you manage to snag.