Ministry of Science and ICT and Ministry of National Defense Implement 'AI and SW Education for Military Personnel'

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of National Defense will provide customized online artificial intelligence (AI) and software (SW) education to military personnel during their service starting next year, aiming to train 50,000 industrial reserve personnel over five years until 2026. They will also train 1,000 military AI specialists.

On the 26th, the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of National Defense signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) at the Army’s 5th Corps (Idong-myeon, Pocheon-si) to successfully implement AI and SW education for military personnel and launched the Defense AI and SW Capability Enhancement Task Force.

This MOU signing and task force launch are follow-up measures to concretize and systematically promote AI and SW education for military personnel, following the ‘MOU for Digital New Deal and Smart Defense Implementation’ signed by the two ministries on August 17.

Accordingly, this agreement includes practical cooperation matters between the two ministries for AI and SW capability enhancement education. In particular, through the launch of the task force composed of military personnel and their families, university and related institution education experts, various activities will be promoted to improve educational outcomes, such as planning and performance review of AI and SW education for military personnel and gathering opinions from various sectors.

The AI and SW talent development education will be conducted as an interactive program using an internet-based online platform, where soldiers’ coding results will be reviewed and directly corrected and guided by civilian professional mentors. To cultivate military specialists, a specialized education course tailored to military AI missions will also be newly established and operated in cooperation with industry, academia, and research institutes.

In particular, by measuring the soldiers’ levels in advance, they will select courses suited to their individual levels, and those who pass a designated evaluation after the education will receive a certificate of completion. This systematic operation aims to promote military digitalization. Furthermore, for those who wish, the government plans to link this with employment and start-up programs to support advanced education even after discharge.

This AI and SW talent development education will be provided online through external professional educational institutions over a total period of 15 months, offering level-based and customized programs considering the soldiers’ service period and COVID-19.

Kim Jeong-sam, Director of Software Policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, emphasized, “We are pleased to provide AI and SW education for MZ generation soldiers in the era of digital transformation, and we will actively cooperate with the Ministry of National Defense to achieve the educational outcomes as planned by the two ministries.”