South Korea to Open Innovation Academy for Software Experts in 2019

A new innovation academy will be established by South Korea in 2019. The announcement was made public on Wednesday. The innovation centre will be used to educate about 2,500 software experts by 2023.

As per Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance, the government intends to fund 180.6B ₩to the new academy by 2023. The academy was designed after Ecole 42, a French computer programming school.

The country also intends to invest 395B₩ by 2023 to boost the nation’s competitiveness in the fields of AI, drones, future vehicles and big data. The investment plan comes as the country faces a major shortage of experts in the fields of AI, software and other major areas in the fourth industrial revolution.

“The government will mobilize all policy tools available to ease concerns on next year's planned minimum wage hike. The government will quickly implement a package worth 9 trillion Won to help companies cope with the hike,” quoted Hong Nam-ki, the minister of economy and finance of South Korea.

By 2019, South Korea’s minimum wage is set to increase by 10.9 % (8,350 Won) as compared to this year’s 7,530 Won, as part of President Moon Jae-in's income-led, or consumption-led, economic growth strategy.

Mr Moon suggested that the government may slow down the pace of legal minimum wage hikes given the strong backlash from businesses in the middle of the sluggish economy.