Seoul City to Invest 650 Billion Won in Universities... Fostering Technology Specialization and Training 1,000 Master's and PhD Students

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon Announces 'Seoul Future Innovation Growth Plan with Universities'
650 Billion KRW Investment Over 5 Years in Seoul Universities... Fostering and Commercializing Future Technologies like AI
About 3,200 Key Talents... Focused Development of Science and Engineering Master's and Doctoral Experts in Future Industries
Expanded Support for Urban Planning, Lowered Parking Installation Standards, and Increased Dormitory Supply

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will invest a total of 650 billion KRW over five years in universities located in Seoul. The plan aims to promote technology commercialization and attract investment to foster global industry-academia cooperation as well as AI (artificial intelligence) and the bio-industry. In particular, it will nurture 1,000 master's and doctoral-level STEM talents in future industries. Mayor Oh Se-hoon's vision is to leverage this as a foundation for future innovative growth and enhance Seoul's urban competitiveness on the global stage.

On the morning of the 18th, Mayor Oh announced the "Seoul Future Innovation Growth Plan with Universities" at Seoul City Hall, which includes these support measures to innovate the growth engines of universities.

On the morning of the 18th, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced the "Seoul Future Innovation Growth Plan with Universities," which includes support measures to innovate the growth engines of universities, at Seoul City Hall.
[Photo by Seoul City]

Seoul noted that 680,000 students and 20,000 full-time faculty members are engaged in research activities at 54 universities located in Seoul, producing 130,000 graduates annually. Based on the judgment that "the competitiveness of universities is the competitiveness of Seoul," the city plans to provide focused support for future talents and technologies possessed by universities to develop them into valuable resources leading Seoul's future. This also includes goals to create innovation hubs through bold deregulation of university spaces and progressive urban planning support.

First, 42 leading universities will be nurtured to lead global industry-academia cooperation and serve as world-class technology innovation outposts. Twelve cooperative universities will be selected to generate advanced outcomes such as global technology transfer and intellectual property rights, with an investment of 60 billion KRW. Through this, more than 60 'Born Global' startups focused on global business from their inception are expected to be produced.

Efforts will also be made to commercialize future new growth technologies linked to industry-academia collaboration. Sixty projects that have conducted joint research and technology packaging will be selected to support technology advancement and practical application. This will be followed by Seoul-style R&D, testbeds, and investment attraction as subsequent measures.

In particular, about 3,200 core talents who will lead Seoul's future will be nurtured. The key is to cultivate 1,000 master's and doctoral-level STEM talents in future industries. To this end, Seoul will first designate 20 "Future Industry Employment-Conditioned Contract Departments Leading Universities," where universities and companies cooperate to connect education and employment.

Support will also be provided to attract foreign talents. Twenty universities in advanced industry fields will recruit 1,000 foreign master's and doctoral-level STEM talents to be deployed in future industry SMEs. The plan also includes enhancing efficiency by linking university-specific international student specialized programs, SME and mid-sized company matching, and the "Seoul Tech Scholarship." Measures to nurture 400 talents in creative industries to boost K-content competitiveness and 800 highly skilled professionals will also be pursued.

Active support will be provided to produce university startup companies. By 2029, more than 1,300 university startups will be produced in Seoul Campus Town, and a stepwise startup support ladder connecting funding investment, technology demonstration, and overseas expansion will be established to help their growth into "unicorn companies." This will also be linked to the "Seoul Vision 2030 Fund," which is being established with a scale of 5 trillion KRW by 2026.

Support from an urban planning perspective will also be intensified. As an upgraded version of the "Urban Planning Support Measures" announced in 2022, detailed measures such as relaxing the installation standard for auxiliary parking lots from one space per 200㎡ to one space per 250㎡ will be implemented. This is a choice to reduce excessive underground construction and increase site space utilization.

This includes plans to increase dormitory supply by upgrading zoning to complexify dormitories and local community facilities. Following the revision of the Enforcement Decree of the Building Act last year, private entities can now establish rental-type dormitories. Currently, Seoul is preparing a plan to build happy dormitories using national and public land such as closed or unestablished school sites in consultation with central government ministries and other agencies. Additionally, the city will foster "Open Campus," which maximizes the opening of university facilities such as auditoriums, libraries, and research equipment to companies and citizens, and introduce "Campus Stay," which offers university dormitories unused during vacation periods to foreign tourists.

Seoul plans to invest about 130 billion KRW annually from 2025, totaling at least 650 billion KRW over five years for these tailored supports. The funding will be covered by 30 billion KRW from city funds and over 100 billion KRW from national funds (Ministry of Education's RISE project). Mayor Oh said, "The competitiveness of universities is the competitiveness of Seoul and the Republic of Korea. We will use the diverse valuable resources possessed by universities as a foundation to expand Seoul's growth potential and accelerate the achievement of the goal to become a global top 5 city together with universities as hubs of future innovative growth."

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