Promotion of Dedicated Local University Departments and Military Service Special Cases for Public Institutions

Lee Kwang-jae, Member of the Democratic Party of Korea./Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] Democratic Party lawmakers are pushing for the introduction of local university contract departments that provide hiring incentives for public institutions relocated to provincial areas. This initiative aims to nurture customized talent suited to the characteristics of each public institution, alongside granting military service exemptions through industry-academia cooperation.

This is part of a balanced development strategy to resolve the manpower shortages that public institutions relocated to provinces are struggling with and to specialize and develop local universities.

On the 30th, Representative Lee Kwang-jae of the Democratic Party said in a phone interview with Asia Economy, "We plan to prepare amendments to the Innovation City Act and other laws that create contract departments at local universities, provide incentives for employment at the respective institutions after graduation, and grant military service exemptions in the form of industry-academia cooperation groups to contract department students," adding, "The Innovation Enterprise City lawmakers' group has gathered opinions, and if possible, we expect to jointly propose this around September."

The recently formed Innovation Enterprise City lawmakers' group includes Representatives Song Ki-heon, Kang Jun-hyun, Kim Sung-joo, Seo Sam-seok, Song Jae-ho, Shin Jeong-hoon, and Lim Ho-seon, in addition to Representative Lee. They are exploring ways to further activate innovation cities and enterprise cities, which are key to balanced development.

Under the Innovation City Act, public institutions that have relocated must hire a certain percentage of graduates from local universities or high schools. In addition to this, the proposal is to establish departments from the outset with the intention of hiring for each public institution. They aim to apply a private sector model, such as Sungkyunkwan University's Semiconductor Systems Engineering department, which Samsung Electronics recruits from, to the public sector as well.

Representative Lee explained, "Graduating from a contract department does not guarantee 100% employment at a public institution, but it will provide additional points in the selection process," adding, "This is a plan to specialize and develop local universities and create a win-win industry-academia cooperation model, similar to how departments like the Department of Electronic Engineering at Kyungpook National University and the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Pusan National University were intensively developed in the 1970s."

He continued, "To attract excellent talent, we also plan to grant military service exemptions through industry-academia cooperation groups. Public institutions also need innovation through outstanding talent." Military service obligations can be fulfilled at public institutions linked to the contract departments. They referred to Israel's 'Talpiot' program, which allows research in science and technology fields during military service.

Representative Lee emphasized, "If we leave the concentration in the metropolitan area and the decline of provinces as they are now, it will become a huge disaster," adding, "We must provide bold support to relocate companies to the provinces and strengthen local educational conditions."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.