Seoul National University FSM Team Wins University Programming Contest

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 23rd that 14 teams won awards at the 21st Korean University Student Programming Contest, including the 1st place Seoul National University FSM team (Yoon Gyojun, Lee Minje, Kim Sebin), 2nd place KAIST DO Solve team (Kim Seokpyo, Lee Onjo, Lim Seongjae), and 3rd place KAIST BabyPenguin team (Choi Eunsoo, Lee Jongyoung, Ahn Jimin).

The Korean University Student Programming Contest is a competition that tests algorithm design and implementation skills, which are core to software technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI). This year marks the 21st edition. The 1st and 2nd place teams receive the Grand Prize (President's Award) and Gold Prize (Prime Minister's Award), respectively, and the top winning teams including the Grand Prize winner (2 to 3 teams) earn the right to represent Korea in the finals of the international programming contest held the following year.

This year’s contest, held non-face-to-face due to COVID-19, saw 301 teams and 903 participants from 58 universities compete in the preliminary round (October 9). The finals were held on November 13 with 75 teams from 46 universities that passed the preliminaries.

Kim Jeongsam, Director of Software Policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, “Over the 21 editions of this contest, countless students have participated to compete with the skills they have honed and have grown into software experts representing Korea.” He added, “The Ministry will continue to promote policy efforts to support the growth of young developers, and we urge our youth, who are future talents, to actively participate and consistently develop themselves to lead innovation and growth not only in software but across all industrial sectors.”