Samsung Youth SW Academy Opens 'Buulkyung Campus' in Busan... Fifth Campus Established

Third-generation trainees participating in the Samsung Youth SW Academy are conducting a collaborative project. (Photo by Samsung Electronics)

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Samsung Electronics announced on the 9th that it has opened the 'Samsung Youth SW Academy (SSAFY) Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam Campus' in Busan to expand software education opportunities.

Following Seoul and the metropolitan area, Samsung Electronics has additionally opened a Samsung Youth SW Academy facility in the Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongsangnam-do regions, where there are many university students, to strengthen software education. This is the fifth campus following the Seoul, Daejeon, Gumi, and Gwangju campuses. The Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam campus is located within the Samsung Electro-Mechanics Busan plant in Gangseo-gu, Busan, covering an area of 1,320㎡, and consists of practical lecture rooms, employment counseling rooms, and lounges. Samsung Electronics plans to provide software education to 200 local youths annually at the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam campus.

The opening ceremony held on this day was attended by An Kyung-duk, Minister of Employment and Labor; Park Hyung-joon, Mayor of Busan; Song Cheol-ho, Mayor of Ulsan; Kim Kyung-soo, Governor of Gyeongsangnam-do; Kim Do-eup and Lee Chae-ik, members of the People Power Party; Kim Jeong-ho, member of the Democratic Party; Samsung Electronics CEO Koh Dong-jin; CR Officer Lee In-yong; and Samsung Electro-Mechanics CEO Kyung Kye-hyun, among others.

Starting in the second half of this year, Samsung Electronics will expand the number of trainees at the Samsung Youth SW Academy. This follows the government's announcement last month of the 'K-Digital Talent Development Support System Establishment' and the decision to implement the 'Expansion of Corporate Excellent Talent Development Program' in collaboration with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of Employment and Labor, and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Samsung Electronics will select 950 trainees for the 6th batch starting this month. From next year, the scale will be expanded to about 1,150 trainees per batch, providing education to approximately 2,300 people annually. In particular, the number of trainees in non-metropolitan areas such as the Gumi, Gwangju, and Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam campuses will be further increased. A Samsung Electronics official stated, "Following the opening of the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam campus in Busan, we are considering adding educational facilities in other regions as well."

Since its launch in December 2018, the Samsung Youth SW Academy has graduated 2,087 people through four batches, with 1,480 of them employed, showing a 71% employment rate. Among the approximately 750 trainees of the 5th batch who enrolled in January this year and are scheduled to graduate at the end of the year, 155 have already found employment early within about six months of training. Samsung Electronics stated that graduates have secured jobs at over 500 companies, including Samsung Electronics, Shinhan Bank, and Kakao.

The Samsung Youth SW Academy operates a program to train software developers through 1,600 hours of education over one year, with 8 hours daily, including collaborative projects among trainees. All trainees receive a monthly education support stipend of 1 million KRW. Starting from the 6th batch enrolling this month, in addition to the existing embedded track used in coding, semiconductors, and Internet of Things (IoT) fields, a mobile track education course will be added to train developers for portable device applications such as smartphones.

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