[Tech War, the Birth of Advanced Nations] The Core Ultimately Lies in 'Talent'

②Where Are the Experts... It Is People Who Build Advanced Countries

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] The Yoon Suk-yeol administration's decision to ease the strict conditions for expanding graduate school quotas exclusively in advanced industrial sectors stems from the recognition that the core of a tech-leading nation ultimately lies in its 'talent.' Although the need for workforce development has been raised for several years, support for this has been minimal. Key personnel have left overseas, providing an opportunity for competitors to catch up.

According to the industry on the 14th, major domestic companies such as Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Hyundai Motor Company are expanding the operation of contract departments linked to recruitment in collaboration with major universities in the Seoul metropolitan area to secure necessary talent in advance. Even Seoul National University, which had opposed the establishment of private company recruitment-linked contract departments due to professors' resistance, has begun internal discussions to establish a semiconductor contract department within the College of Engineering, reflecting the shortage of specialized personnel in advanced industries.

The reality in Korea is that the more advanced the industry where technological capability is key, the more companies desperately need graduates from related departments who have received focused education in the field, but securing talent is difficult due to the absolute shortage of such personnel. Looking at the semiconductor industry, where President Yoon emphasized the super-gap technology, only about 10,000 people joined semiconductor companies as new employees last year. Among college graduates, less than 20% have received education specializing in semiconductors.

Eventually, the government decided to improve regulations in new industrial fields such as advanced industrial education, electric vehicles, drones, and bio-healthcare. In advanced industrial sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data, next-generation semiconductors, and displays, a special measure was introduced to relax the quota standards so that graduate school quotas can be increased if only the faculty securing rate among the four major educational conditions (faculty, teachers, campus land, and basic property for profit) is met.

The joint department system between universities in advanced industrial fields was improved to allow the credits that can be completed at one university to be autonomously decided through agreements between universities. Previously, the credits that could be completed at one university were limited to half of the total credits, which was a difficulty for universities in autonomously operating academic systems. The government stated, "This can promote the training of specialized and advanced personnel in advanced industrial fields and contribute to strengthening national competitiveness."

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