Semiconductor Talent Master's and Doctoral Quota Standards Eased... Faculty Appointment Qualification Relaxed as Well

Ministry of Education's Amendment to 'University Establishment and Operation Regulations' Passed at Cabinet Meeting
Increase in Master's and Doctoral Quotas Possible When 100% Teacher Securing Rate Met
Exemption from Preliminary Feasibility Study for Advanced Industries and Expansion of Tax Benefits for Corporate Facility Investment
Relaxation of Education Public Officials Appointment Criteria, Allowing Concurrent Positions
Addition of Industry-Demand Customized High Schools to Workforce Training Projects

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The government is launching full-scale regulatory reforms to nurture talent in the semiconductor industry. It will start by easing the quota standards for master's and doctoral programs, where demand for personnel is high. The ruling party and the government have agreed to prepare the 'Semiconductor Industry Competitiveness Enhancement Act' to relax faculty appointment standards and increase tax benefits related to corporate facility investments and the operation of contract departments.

The Ministry of Education reviewed and approved a revision of the 'Regulations on University Establishment and Operation' at the Cabinet meeting to ease the quota increase standards for master's and doctoral programs in the semiconductor and artificial intelligence (AI) fields. This is a follow-up measure to the government's 'Semiconductor Talent Development Plan,' which aims to train 150,000 semiconductor professionals over 10 years. Considering the high growth rates in demand for doctoral (6.8%) and master's (5.7%) personnel, the quota system standards have been relaxed. Previously, to increase master's and doctoral quotas, universities had to fully meet 100% of requirements for faculty, campus land, faculty members, and revenue-generating basic assets. Going forward, in advanced fields, increasing master's and doctoral quotas will be possible by meeting only 100% of the faculty securing rate.

The standards for adjusting quotas between bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs will also be significantly relaxed. Previously, general and specialized graduate schools had to reduce 1.5 bachelor's quotas to increase 1 master's quota, and professional graduate schools had to reduce 2 bachelor's quotas to increase 1 master's quota. Now, one-to-one increases are allowed regardless of the type of graduate school. The standard of reducing 2 master's quotas to increase 1 doctoral quota in advanced fields will be expanded to all fields.

When universities adjust quotas between departments within the quota range, the regulation requiring the faculty securing rate to meet or exceed the previous year's rate has been relaxed to the average faculty securing rate over the past three years. For quota adjustments aimed at nurturing talent in advanced fields, faculty securing rates of 90% or higher will also be permitted. The standard requiring both the main campus and branch campus to meet campus land criteria when transferring quotas to another campus will be changed so that only the transferred campus's land requirements need to be met in advanced fields. When university campuses are separated, the distance considered as one campus land will be expanded from within 2 km to within 20 km. Even if each campus land is located within the same city or county district, it will be recognized as one campus land.

Yang Hyang-ja, Chairperson of the Special Committee on Strengthening Competitiveness of the Semiconductor Industry at the National Assembly, is announcing the achievements of the Special Committee's activities on strengthening semiconductor industry competitiveness at the National Assembly Communication Office on the 2nd. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

The ruling party and the government plan to submit the 'Semiconductor Industry Competitiveness Enhancement Act (Amendments to the National Advanced Strategic Industry Act and the Restriction of Special Taxation Act)' to the National Assembly on the 4th. This includes exempting preliminary feasibility studies for advanced industries such as semiconductors, shortening licensing periods, and providing tax benefits to companies.

Under the National Advanced Strategic Industry Act, the National Advanced Strategic Industry Committee will support the creation of strategic industry specialized complexes from the development stage and expand the exemption scope of preliminary feasibility studies to include public enterprises and public institutions. The act will also relax the qualification standards for appointing educational public officials and allow concurrent appointments and duties to foster and retrain specialized personnel in strategic industries. To address workforce supply and demand in strategic industries, industry-demand-tailored high schools will be added to talent development projects.

Under the Restriction of Special Taxation Act, the tax credit period for facility investments in national advanced industries such as semiconductors will be extended to 2030, and the credit rates will be aligned with competing countries at 20% for general companies, 25% for mid-sized companies, and 30% for small and medium enterprises. Operating expenses for contract departments run by companies will be included in the tax credit targets for research and human resource development expenses. When companies donate used assets to universities or others free of charge, an amount equivalent to 10% of the market value of the donated assets will be deducted from corporate tax. The tax reduction period for attracting excellent foreign engineers will also be extended from 5 to 10 years.

Yang Hyang-ja, chairperson of the Special Committee for Semiconductor Industry Competitiveness Enhancement and a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated, "We urge the establishment of a permanent special committee at the National Assembly level and a pan-government control tower for the semiconductor industry." She added, "If a legislative and administrative system that can focus on the semiconductor industry beyond political parties and ministries is created, Korea can seize advanced technology hegemony and lead the future."

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