Pohang City Accelerates Training of Secondary Battery Experts through Industry-Academia-Government Collaboration

POSCO Future M-POSTECH-Pohang Steel Technical High School Sign MOU to Foster Secondary Battery Talent and Strengthen Technological Competitiveness

Customized Workforce Training from Research and Design to Process Operation to Enhance K-Battery Comp

As the secondary battery market expands, the importance of securing talent is increasing, and Pohang City is establishing itself as a cradle for nurturing specialized secondary battery personnel, from research and development experts to process workers, leading the strengthening of K-battery competitiveness.

On the 23rd, Pohang City signed a business agreement at the Pohang City Hall main conference room with POSCO Future M, POSTECH, and Pohang Steel Technical High School to nurture specialized secondary battery personnel and enhance technological competitiveness.

POSCO Future M signed a business agreement on the 23rd with POSTECH, Pohang Steel Technical High School, and Pohang City to foster specialized personnel in secondary batteries and strengthen technological competitiveness. (From left: Nam-il Kim, Vice Mayor; Jun-hyung Kim, President of POSCO Future M; Mu-hwan Kim, President of POSTECH; Seong-ryeol Lee, Principal of Pohang Steel Technical High School; Il-man Kim, Vice Chairman of Pohang City Council) [Image source=POSCO Future M]

The signing ceremony was attended by about 30 people, including Kim Nam-il, Deputy Mayor of Pohang City; Kim Il-man, Vice Chairman of the City Council; Kim Moo-hwan, President of POSTECH; Kim Jun-hyung, CEO of POSCO Future M; Lee Sung-yeol, Principal of Pohang Steel Technical High School; as well as company executives and school officials.

The agreement was made based on a consensus that to enhance the competitiveness of the secondary battery industry, which is a culmination of advanced technology, a cooperative system among industry, academia, and government within the region must be established to nurture specialized personnel that meet industry demands. Pohang City, POSCO Future M, POSTECH, and Pohang Steel Technical High School agreed to strengthen mutual cooperation and support to nurture specialized secondary battery personnel and enhance technological competitiveness.

Through this agreement, Pohang City plans to actively promote the training of personnel at various educational levels and skill levels required by companies. To this end, POSTECH will take the lead in nurturing core researchers at the master's and doctoral levels capable of high-level research design, while Pohang Steel Technical High School will actively work to train process workers with practical field skills.

In particular, POSTECH, one of the world's top engineering universities, plans to collaborate with Pohang Steel Technical High School, a regional Meister high school, to develop educational programs for nurturing field-oriented practical talents in process operation and quality control in the secondary battery field. This will give a stronger momentum to the cultivation of diverse secondary battery personnel according to job roles in Pohang.

POSCO Future M, the only company in Korea that produces both cathode and anode materials, the core materials of batteries, is currently operating an anode material factory covering 24,000 pyeong in the Blue Valley National Industrial Complex. It plans to invest an additional 1.7 trillion KRW, including 500 billion KRW for expanding the anode material factory and 1.2 trillion KRW for a joint venture to produce nickel sulfate and precursors, key raw materials for cathode materials.

Additionally, a cathode material production plant worth 3.3 trillion KRW is scheduled to be sequentially completed starting in the second half of this year at the Yeongilman Industrial Complex. POSCO Future M has pledged to actively expand local talent recruitment going forward.

Pohang, which recorded the highest domestic and international production volume last year with 150,000 tons of cathode materials, is expected to increase annual cathode material production to about 1 million tons and achieve sales of 70 trillion KRW by 2030 due to the explosive growth of local secondary battery companies and large-scale investments. Employment, currently at around 2,000, is expected to expand to 15,000.

Deputy Mayor Kim Nam-il said, “Talent development is essential to enhance K-battery competitiveness, and we will strengthen the competitiveness of companies in the global market by nurturing next-generation secondary battery material specialists tailored to regional characteristics as required by companies.”

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