The Grand Prize of the 23rd 'Korean University Student Programming Contest' Goes to 'KAIST Penguins'

225 Skilled Participants from 35 Universities Nationwide
Fierce Competition and Cooperation

The 23rd "Korea University Student Programming Contest," hosted by the Ministry of Science and ICT and organized by the National Information Society Agency (NIA), was held on November 25th at KINTEX in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do. As a result of the competition, the Grand Prize (President's Award) was awarded to the KAIST Penguins team (Choi Eun-su, Lim Seong-jae, Lee Jong-young), the Gold Prize (Prime Minister's Award) to the Seoul National University NewTrend team (Jung Hyun-seo, Park Jae-min, Choi Seo-hyun), and the Silver Prize (Minister of Science and ICT Award) to the KAIST MunSongSong Eggdrop team (Moon Hong-yoon, Song Eun-ha, Song Jun-hyuk), Soongsil University PS akgwi team (Na Jeong-hwi, Oh Joo-won, Lee Seong-seo), and KAIST Final Round team (Kim Hong-nyeong, Lee Chae-jun, Park Soo-chan), among a total of 14 teams awarded.

This competition is for domestic university students interested in programming and algorithm problem-solving, providing an opportunity to identify the best talents and foster teamwork and programming skills. This year marks its 23rd anniversary.

Out of 365 teams (1,095 participants) from 60 universities nationwide who passed the preliminary round, 75 teams (225 participants) from the top 35 universities competed fiercely for 5 hours. Among the winning teams, the top teams from each university are granted the qualification to participate in the finals of the "International University Student Programming Contest" held the following year. The Ministry of Science and ICT and NIA plan to provide programming skill enhancement training to teams that earn the right to advance to the international competition to help them achieve excellent results.

South Korea achieved the remarkable feat of winning awards for five consecutive years at the recent "International University Student Programming Contest," including a gold medal won by a Seoul National University team. Lee Do-gyu, Director of Software Policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, stated, "The programming skills of our university students are already at a world-class level." He added, "The Ministry of Science and ICT will continue to expand policy support so that young people equipped with the competencies needed in the digital deepening era can demonstrate their abilities on the global stage."