Ministry of Employment Holds the 28th 'Vocational Competency Month Ceremony'

77 Awardees in 5 Categories

The Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Human Resources Development Service of Korea held the '28th Vocational Competency Month Award Ceremony' on the 3rd at the International Conference Hall of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In celebration of Vocational Competency Month this September, 77 individuals received awards such as medals and plaques across five fields of vocational competency development.

[Photo by Ministry of Employment and Labor]

The prestigious Seoktap Industrial Medal was awarded to Yu Cheol-jong, Manager at POSCO Co., Ltd. Manager Yu, recognized as a recipient in the worker category, has contributed to quality improvement and process enhancement over 33 years in the steelmaking field. His achievements include contributing to financial savings exceeding 10 billion KRW.

Jo Hak-rae, CEO of Innotron Co., Ltd., received the award in the employer category as a highly skilled professional with 22 years of experience in the mobile communications field. Additionally, Kang Ran-gi, CEO of Seongnam Confectionery Culinary Coffee Vocational School, was honored in the vocational training institution representative category, and Choi Ji-an, a training instructor at Anyang Juvenile Detention Center, received the award in the vocational training instructor category.

Lee Jeong-han, Director of Employment Policy at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, stated at the commemorative ceremony, "The government will make policy efforts to expand vocational training in new technology fields in the rapidly changing social environment of the artificial intelligence (AI) era and to support all citizens in lifelong vocational competency development."

Since 1997, the government has designated September as 'Vocational Competency Month' each year to boost the morale of workers in related fields and to encourage public interest in vocational competency development. This year, events such as the 'Skilled Technician Day Commemoration Ceremony' and the 'Best-HRD Certification Award Ceremony' for outstanding human resource development institutions will be held throughout September.

Notably, during this period, the International Skills Olympics will take place in Lyon, France. Korea will participate with 57 competitors across 49 occupations, aiming for its 20th overall victory.