Samsung opens coding centers to educate 500

Shin A-young, who was recently accepted at Samsung Electronics’ software training center’s Gwangju campus, said she hopes to pursue a career as a software developer.

“As a person who has been preparing for jobs, I found my IT capacity lacking,” Shin said.

Chung Su-won, who was accepted at the company’s Seoul campus, said she taught herself coding languages like Python and C++, but there’s a limit to how much you can learn on your own.

“Now I will be able to do my best as I am getting much support and training from the academy,” Chung said.

Samsung Electronics on Monday announced the opening of the Samsung SW Academy for Youth, or SSAFY, a first step toward building an army of 10,000 coding experts in the next five years.

The company opened four software training centers - in Seoul, Daejeon, Gwangju and Gumi in North Gyeongsang - and accepted 500 applicants who will undergo intense training for a year. Applicants started getting acceptance letters on Oct.22.

The centers are part of Samsung Electronics’ vow to the government to create more jobs and contribute further to the nation’s economic growth. On Aug. 8, it promised to make 180 trillion won ($159 billion) of new investment in the next three years. Some 72 percent of the investments, or 130 trillion won, will be made in Korea, an average of 43 trillion won a year.

The goal is to raise the competitiveness of Korea, as well as young people seeking jobs, and expand the IT ecosystem.

“We have been trying to create the best environment and teaching staff and the best programs so that the applicants that are accepted will be software developers who will lead the fourth industrial revolution,” said Daniel Yoo, head of Samsung Electronics’ Multicampus, which specializes in job-related education and training.

All of the training is paid for by Samsung Electronics, and each trainee will receive stipends of 1 million won a month. Those that do well will have the opportunity to apply for jobs at Samsung Electronics’ overseas research centers.

Samsung Electronics said it plans to accept a second group of 500 applicants in June. The application process starts in May.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]