Minister of Science and ICT Lee Jong-ho, third from left in the front row, speaks during a meeting with officials of the semiconductor industry and research institutes at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Daejeon, Monday. Yonhap

By Lee Kyung-min

The science minister expressed his commitment to making large investments in order to nurture over 3,140 highly-skilled professionals in the semiconductor industry over the next five years, in the latest announcement of long-term investment plans to foster a key national growth driver, according to the ministry and industry sources, Tuesday.

Minister of Science and ICT Lee Jong-ho met with officials of Korea's top chipmakers including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, Monday, and reiterated that he will increase state grants and overall spending for in-depth and intensive training and education of semiconductor and artificial intelligence (AI) specialists.

The meeting is the continuation of his policy initiative, as illustrated by his visit to FuriosaAI, a Seoul-based AI semiconductor startup, May 24. It was his first official schedule as a minister. Many said the significance of the visit was to show strong support for the industry in which he has decades of experience and expertise as well as a broad and deep human network. Lee is a former head of the Inter-University Semiconductor Research Center under Seoul National University. He said government policy assistance measures for the industry will be announced in June.

Monday's meeting was also attended by high-tech research institutes, including the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and its peers in Gwangju, Daegu, Ulsan and North Gyeongsang province. They pledged to map out academic courses to nurture a combined 200 students a year and assist them in finding a future in the research-intensive industry.

The courses will be provided by professors with practical experience in the semiconductor designing and manufacturing process, helping students find research interests in expanded industry-academic cooperation.

The plan coincides with a sense of urgency amplified by the shortage of workers in the high-tech industry.

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, Korea's global semiconductor powerhouses, will collaborate with major universities in Korea to open and fortify courses where students with chipmaking specialties can find increased job opportunities immediately after graduation. They are Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Seoul, Korea, Yonsei, Sogang and Hanyang universities.

The ministry will launch a council composed of officials from semiconductor firms and major science and technology institutes to hold regular meetings to keep up with global developments in the advanced technology industry and set out subsequent growth strategies in closer industry-academic cooperation.

Lee said he is well aware that the country's key export growth driver is expected to experience a shortage of about 30,000 workers over the next 10 years, a concern long shared by President Yoon Suk-yeol.

"We will invest in young people that show enormous promise, as part of a long-term plan to manage human resources whose strong foundations in creativity will help the country cement a lead in the global semiconductor market," Lee said at the meeting.