[Semiconductor Talent 'Each Country for Itself']⑤ China Allows Liberal Arts Students to Take Computer Science Courses... Korea Maintains Barriers

Taiwan Expands Gardens, US Hires Professors
Japan Leads Local Governments in 'Talent Business'
Korea Finds It Difficult for Non-Majors to Enroll

Competing countries are implementing various talent development measures such as expanding department quotas and hiring professors, which are either not conducted or are severely lacking in South Korea.

According to foreign media on the 25th, Taiwan's government increased the university semiconductor department quotas by 10% for bachelor's and 15% for master's and doctoral programs in 2022. While South Korea remains constrained by the Capital Region Readjustment Planning Act, Taiwan has actively pursued talent development.

U.S. company Intel has established a 'professor hiring' policy at the corporate level. Two years ago, Intel announced that it would invest $50 million (approximately 67.2 billion KRW) over ten years into educational institutions in Ohio.

In addition to donating funds to 80 higher education institutions including Ohio State University (OSU), Intel decided to allocate OSU funds specifically for faculty training and hiring.

Kumamoto Prefecture in Japan improved local university education programs while constructing three TSMC factories. This year, Kumamoto University will establish a new department related to semiconductor process management. In the U.S., while attracting investment for the TSMC foundry plant in Arizona, a semiconductor specialized talent development program at Arizona State University, contingent on TSMC hiring, has been launched.

Dutch EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) lithography equipment company ASML has collaborated with Eindhoven University of Technology to train 40 doctoral-level experts annually for ten years starting last year. This program is notable for teaching essential subjects such as plasma physics and semiconductor lithography necessary for manufacturing EUV equipment.

The Chinese example is worth referencing in university organizational management. Tsinghua University in China established the 'Yao Class (Computer Science Experimental Class)' in 2005, accepting only the top elite students. At the end of their first year, students are free to choose majors such as computer science, artificial intelligence (AI), and quantum information. Even non-majors are given opportunities to participate in semiconductor courses.

This contrasts with South Korean universities, where interdepartmental course access is restricted. For example, at Seoul National University’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, with a quota of 151 students, 90 double majors, and 50 minors, access to semiconductor courses is effectively limited. Professor Lee Hyuk-jae of this department said, "Besides our 291 students including majors, double majors, and minors, many students want to take semiconductor courses, but there are not enough professors, and it is difficult to increase the department quota."

Professor Choi Seong-ryul of KAIST’s Department of Electrical Engineering said, "It is ideal and a long-term achievable goal to have major semiconductor company executives join contract departments or university semiconductor-related departments as professors to share field experience with students." He also pointed out, "While private universities may be different, national universities could solve this issue relatively easily with increased government funding. It is a matter requiring government determination."

A Tsinghua University Yao Class student attending a lecture. [Photo by Tsinghua University Yao Class introduction video capture]

The government plans to actively support the core of the 'Semiconductor Mega Cluster Creation Plan,' announced on the 15th by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Ministry of Science and ICT as a one-team effort, which is the future semiconductor talent development.

The plan includes training about 30,000 bachelor's-level practical talents this year through educational programs such as semiconductor contract departments and contract quota systems, expansion of semiconductor specialized universities (from 8 to 18 schools), and the Semiconductor Academy (training 800 people in 2024). Additionally, it aims to nurture about 3,700 advanced talents at the master's and doctoral levels by expanding R&D-based talent development programs such as AI semiconductor graduate schools (Seoul National University, KAIST, Hanyang University, selecting 90 students in 2024) and semiconductor specialized graduate schools (from 3 to 6 schools).

Kang Kyung-sung, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, emphasized, "The government is striving to nurture 150,000 excellent young talents in the semiconductor field by 2031," adding, "The government will continue to work as one team and spare no support for our youth."