The author is a columnist at the JoongAng Ilbo.
 
 
The once-bustling Whigyeong Technical High School in eastern Seoul’s Dongdaemun District, now renamed Seoul Semiconductor High School, is preparing for a major shift in identity. At its peak during the Lee Myung-bak administration’s push for vocational education, the school enrolled up to 2,500 students. Today, it has only 80. Faced with closure, the school is reinventing itself as a semiconductor high school, with plans to admit 64 new students next year.
 
The school’s newly appointed principal, Ji Woo-jung, is a former Samsung Electronics executive who once managed factories in India and Egypt. But Ji faces a daunting path ahead. Although the government is providing budget support, the funds barely cover personnel costs, leaving little room for even secondhand semiconductor equipment. Finding qualified instructors is an even bigger hurdle. The school offers a modest hourly wage of up to 50,000 won ($37), but it remains uncertain whether experienced field professionals will be willing to teach for that amount. Even if they do, current education ministry regulations bar them from staying unless they hold formal teaching credentials—virtually nonexistent among semiconductor professionals with a background in education.
 

Students receive training in semiconductor manufacturing at the Inter-University Semiconductor Research Center at Seoul National University in Gwanak District, southern Seoul. [YONHAP]

To attract students, the school is offering dormitory housing. However, regulatory hurdles mean it could take up to four years to complete construction of a 3,300-square-meter (35,521-square-foot) dorm.
 
Since the 1980s, semiconductors have been a cornerstone of Korea’s economy. Yet the country has only six semiconductor high schools, most of which are newly established and still in early stages of development. Taiwan, meanwhile, has surged ahead in both the quantity and quality of talent. Led by the Taiwan Semiconductor Research Institute, founded in 2019, Taiwan provides round-the-clock access to advanced semiconductor equipment. Researchers use the facilities by day, and students by night. Most of the high-end equipment is supplied by TSMC, which last year donated 4 billion New Taiwan dollars ($138 million) to four top universities and several elite high schools.
 
In 2022, TSMC helped launch a six-week semiconductor curriculum in ten top high schools. Since last year, 36 high schools across Taiwan have adopted semiconductor studies as part of their official curriculum. Taiwan now produces about 10,000 semiconductor professionals annually, including graduate-level talent—far outpacing Korea. TSMC’s workforce exceeds 100,000 engineers, compared to just 15,000 at Samsung Electronics.
 
Korea’s semiconductor labor shortage is expected to worsen. A recent audit report by the Board of Audit and Inspection projected a shortfall of 50,000 workers by 2031. Yet the government’s response has been sluggish. The Ministry of Science and ICT had planned to train 850 specialists in fabless semiconductor design by 2031, but the program has stalled due to lack of funding.
 

People walk beside TSMC signage outside the company’s Museum of Innovation at its headquarters in Hsinchu, northern Taiwan, on Nov. 21, 2024. [AFP/YONHAP]

Government funding for semiconductor research at universities stands at just 100 billion won per year. Faculty shortages are also acute. Out of 330 professors at Seoul National University’s College of Engineering, only 15 specialize in semiconductors. University-level facilities and curricula are also lacking. A recent Ministry of Education review of 43 institutions found that only about half had adopted the courses demanded by industry. Just two schools met basic equipment standards for semiconductor training. Although support should be concentrated in competitive programs, political pressures have led to fragmented and inefficient resource allocation.
 
Korea’s semiconductor sector risks becoming a subcontractor to the global industry. Yet government urgency appears minimal. Hwang Cheol-seong, a distinguished professor at Seoul National University and recipient of the 2025 Korea Science and Technology Grand Prize, has published 750 SCI-indexed semiconductor papers and trained 165 graduate students. Speaking at the award ceremony on July 3, he delivered a sobering critique.
 
“In Korea, science and technology research funding is controlled by bureaucrats, who take cues from politicians, who, in turn, focus on votes,” Hwang said. “When budgets are divided up for political gain, there’s no way the quality of semiconductor education can improve.”

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.