President Yoon Directly Chairs Talent Development Strategy Meeting
"Outstanding Insight" by Former President Park Chung-hee on the Establishment of Kumoh National Institute of Technology
Establishing Regional Innovation-Centered University Support System and Expanding Financial Investment
[Asia Economy Reporters Baek Kyunghwan and Lee Gimin] President Yoon Suk-yeol stated on the 1st, "The driving force of national development is science and technology, and nurturing talent in this field is the most important." President Yoon's judgment is that "in the midst of the 4th Industrial Revolution and global technology hegemony competition, the only way for the nation to survive is to cultivate a large number of outstanding science and technology talents."
To this end, the government has decided to select core fields such as semiconductors and space, and to focus on financial investment and legislative enactment. The main point is to nurture local talent through deregulation such as academic autonomy for universities and to cultivate customized talents through company-led education. This is a follow-up measure following President Yoon's directive after his visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last month, instructing to "prioritize science and technology policies above all other policies and focus on nurturing science and technology talents."
On the morning of the 1st, President Yoon held the 1st Talent Nurturing Strategy Meeting at Kumoh National Institute of Technology located in Gumi, Gyeongbuk. The Talent Nurturing Strategy Meeting is a cross-ministerial public-private cooperation system established last year under the president’s chairmanship to cultivate specialized talents in the semiconductor field. The meeting, held under the slogan "Talent that revitalizes regions, Korea that grows through talent," was attended by central government ministries, local governments, and private experts related to nurturing talents in core advanced fields such as science and technology.
"Central Government Should Transfer University Budget Authority to Local Governments"
First, to open the era of local regions, emphasis was placed on accelerating the nurturing of science and technology talents centered on regional universities. President Yoon said, "When regional universities, local industries, and local governments put their heads together to find the strengths, comparative advantages, and growth engines of the region and combine their efforts, a true era of local regions can be opened," adding, "The role of regional universities is especially important."
President Yoon promised, "The central government will also transfer the government’s budget authority over universities to local governments to support regions in nurturing talents suitable for their demand and comparative advantages." He also called for the necessity of various regulatory reforms and autonomy guarantees for universities, as well as flexible responses and changes by universities.
President Yoon Suk-yeol is presiding over the 1st Talent Development Strategy Meeting at Kumoh National Institute of Technology in Gumi, Gyeongsangbuk-do on the 1st. [Image source=Yonhap News]
Regarding Kumoh National Institute of Technology, where the meeting was held, he said, "Kumoh National Institute of Technology is a place where President Park Chung-hee, who had outstanding insight into the nation's future, pushed for the establishment of the university starting in 1975 and gave final approval a month before his passing. It embodies President Park’s spirit and breath," emphasizing, "It is very meaningful that the first Talent Nurturing Strategy Meeting was held at Kumoh National Institute of Technology, which has produced many technical talents."
President Yoon stressed, "The reason we succeeded in industrialization and grew into an economic powerhouse despite difficult conditions was ultimately because we invested in and nurtured people," and added, "Like the United States, we must set fields for talent cultivation by considering urgency, importance, and our comparative competitive advantages among advanced fields, and concentrate all capabilities there."
The Ministry of Education and others reported to President Yoon that they will select five core fields (▲ Aviation, Space, Future Mobility ▲ Biohealth ▲ Advanced Components and Materials ▲ Digital ▲ Environment and Energy) through the 'Advanced Field Talent Nurturing Strategy Plan.' This reflects the urgency and importance of talent supply and demand in advanced fields, and detailed tasks will be discussed together by the government, companies, and local governments.
Efforts will also be accelerated to establish the 'Regional Innovation-Centered University Support System' (RISE), which grants authority to local governments so that struggling local universities and regions can build a virtuous cycle development ecosystem. The core is to delegate and transfer budgets and authority and to promote expanded financial investment led by local governments. Regulatory innovations such as academic autonomy for universities, as well as policies to strengthen lifelong and vocational education through company-led education and training, will also be pursued in connection.
President Yoon’s Commitment to Nurturing Science and Technology Talent from Early in His Term
This reflects President Yoon’s commitment to talent nurturing to achieve a technological gap from early in his term. Given the lack of natural resources, he judged that securing national competitiveness in the upcoming 4th Industrial Revolution era requires talents who will lead new fields. The establishment of the 'National Science and Technology Advisory Council,' the highest decision-making body for science and technology policies chaired by the president, and the derivation of 12 national strategic technologies after his inauguration are in the same context.
In particular, semiconductors, which are national security assets and account for 20% of the country’s total exports, have been a field President Yoon has personally overseen since early in his term. At the Cabinet meeting held in June last year, he instructed all ministries to prepare semiconductor talent nurturing plans, saying, "We must do this with our lives on the line," and the government announced a plan the following month to nurture 150,000 semiconductor talents by 2031.
President Yoon Suk-yeol observed job training for current students and employees before attending the 1st Talent Development Strategy Meeting held at Kumoh National Institute of Technology in Gumi, Gyeongsangbuk-do on the 1st. [Image source=Yonhap News]
The Ministry of Education plans to produce 45,000 semiconductor personnel by 2031, starting with increasing the quota by 5,700 last July for semiconductor-related departments (semiconductor, electronics, new materials, materials, mechanical engineering, etc.). The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Ministry of Science and ICT will also nurture an additional 105,000 personnel at vocational high schools and bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels through financial support projects.
According to the Ministry of Education’s 2023 work report, in higher education, a semiconductor-specialized university project will be newly established, designating eight universities this year with concentrated financial investment. A new advanced industry talent nurturing boot camp project will be launched, where universities operate short-term intensive courses in advanced fields utilizing private sector know-how. Regional semiconductor joint research institutes will be designated to handle semiconductor research, education, and practice. To nurture highly skilled practical talents early, vocational education at the high school level will also be strengthened. Support will be provided to vocational high schools to reorganize departments in new industries and new technologies such as semiconductors and digital, and 'Meister High School 2.0' will be promoted in the first half of the year to intensively nurture highly skilled practical talents.
President Yoon’s advanced talent nurturing policy is expected to expand to artificial intelligence (AI), which is a concentration of semiconductors, and quantum technology, which is called the future beyond semiconductors. During his recent trip, President Yoon visited Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF, Davos Forum) and met quantum scholars at ETH Zurich to discuss technology acquisition and talent nurturing plans. Upon returning to Korea, he immediately invited young scientists to the Yongsan Presidential Office to encourage them.
A presidential office official said, "In the domestic situation facing triple hardships such as high inflation and high interest rates, securing science and technology talent will be the driving force of Korea," adding, "We will share and coordinate roles among ministries for talent nurturing policies and devote all efforts to ensure related policies are implemented quickly."
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