In order to lead the high-tech industry in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, it is necessary to develop talent who can think creatively regardless of their major. To this end, the government is making efforts to enable people to take courses in high-tech fields regardless of their university or department, such as by promoting the High-Tech Convergence University Project.

Kookmin University (President Jung Seung-ryul) is leading the training of talent in the high-tech industry in Korea. The next-generation communication and future automobile sectors are representative examples. The university was selected as the host university for the Future Automobile and Next-Generation Communication Consortium in the government-led High-Tech Sector Innovation Convergence University Project, and is leading education and research with a budget of 71.4 billion won for six years and 40.8 billion won for four years, respectively.

The Next Generation Communication Business Group, which is organized by Kookmin University, has promoted the development and operation of convergence courses based on next-generation communication, the operation of timely and comparative courses focused on industrial sites, and the establishment of corporate collaboration and infrastructure to present a new standard for education in the field of next-generation communication. These efforts have led to the operation of high-quality courses and the achievements of students. The Quantum Security and Next Generation Communication Convergence major was very popular, with the number of students taking double and minor majors increasing by about 100% year-on-year. The best teams among the students who participated in the main joint curriculum, the Interdisciplinary Capstone Design (Next Generation Communication) class, were selected to exhibit their work at CES 2025, the world's largest IT exhibition held in Las Vegas, USA, and received good reviews.

◇ Training practical talent in collaboration with Samsung Electronics

Kookmin University also has active industry-academia collaboration. Last December, the Kookmin University Next Generation Communication Business Group collaborated with Samsung Electronics to establish the 'Samsung Electronics SmartThings Microdegree' curriculum. This curriculum was created in collaboration with Samsung Electronics to proactively train practical talent in response to the growing demand for talent in the next-generation communication and IoT fields. It is characterized by its emphasis on practical training. For example, students, Samsung Electronics PMs, and the supervising professor jointly carry out various project topics presented in the class, such as “Using Samsung Electronics IoT Platform SmartThings.” The biggest advantage is that Samsung Electronics employees directly participate, so students can receive mentoring in real time.

Kookmin University has consistently invested in the automotive sector, which is one of the university's traditional strengths. In 1992, the university established the Department of Automotive Engineering and in 2014, the Department of Automotive IT Convergence, creating the Automotive Convergence College, the first college in Korea to focus on the automotive sector. In 2025, the university will absorb the Department of Future Mobility, a cutting-edge department, to continue expanding its scope. It is also taking the lead in various future mobility education and R&D, including conducting a global industry-academia cooperation project with GMTCK and Volkswagen Group Korea.

The SEA:ME (Software Engineering in Automotive and Mobility Ecosystems) program is a curriculum sponsored by the Volkswagen Group Korea Foundation and led by the Future Automotive Business Division of the College of Innovation and Convergence at Kookmin University. It consists of five sub-modules: embedded systems, autonomous driving systems, mobility ecosystems, vehicle safety, and mobility security. The program's operating budget is fully funded by the Volkswagen Group's foundation, and students study a year in Germany on a PBL (Project Based Learning) basis for a highly challenging program related to embedded systems and autonomous driving.

◇ World-class faculty

The Department of Information Security and Cryptography is also one of the best in Korea. The faculty members at the department have consistently produced excellent results that are recognized around the world. A representative example is the fact that the hardware quantum cryptographic module 'DUSSQ V1.0', which was developed by Professor Lee Ok-yeon's research team, has been listed on the KCMVP Verified Cryptographic Module (Security Level 2) list of the National Cyber Security Center. In addition, Professors Yoo Il-sun and Park Won-kwang were included in the list of the “top 2% of the world's top researchers,” and Professor Han Dong-kuk's research team won a contract worth about 10 billion won last year for defense technology research services, including defense projects, by taking advantage of the strengths of cryptography.

“Kookmin University's strategy is to make quantum leaps by strengthening the fundamentals of existing majors that have been doing well and securing new competitiveness to prepare for the future,” said Kookmin University President Jung Seung-ryul. ‘We will continue to develop curricula that break down the boundaries between majors and actively support the research of faculty members in each field to ultimately become a ’global university that is strong in both education and research.'”