▲Professor Kim Pil-su, Department of Future Automobile Engineering, Daerim University


“A look into the history of the future car workforce training program that has achieved 600 graduates each year”


Future Vehicle Special Act has great significance in strengthening the linkage between manufacturers and partners and emphasizing the importance of SW
Last December, the Future Vehicle Special Act passed the National Assembly plenary session… Human resource training program was discontinued in the middle

It can be said that the automobile industry has been given a breath of fresh air with the passage of the Future Automobile Special Act (Special Act on Promotion of Transformation and Fostering of Ecosystem of Future Automobile Parts Industry) in December 2023.

Of course, this law is an important step forward that emphasizes the importance of software and strengthens support for manufacturers and partners for the future car era, as well as integrating it with future cars.

It is even more meaningful in that it signals a starting point for systematically supporting the core convergence field of the future automobile industry by dispelling the perception biased toward semiconductors and batteries through the efforts of those involved.

In particular, 2023 was the year in which Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors achieved their best performance, maintaining their global No. 3 ranking in the domestic and global markets by exceeding KRW 27 trillion in annual operating profit margin for the first time.

In addition, semiconductors and other key The most praiseworthy result is that it has established itself as the only industry leading the domestic economy amidst the domestic economic downturn, including the industrial recession.

I am confident that the future automobile industry will become a key area that can kill two birds with one stone by creating domestic jobs and securing food in advance, which is why this special law on future automobiles is all the more meaningful.

In the international community, the national priority system is beginning to spread in each region and country, and from our export-based perspective, the future car special law cannot help but be emphasized more in terms of maintaining domestic industries and leading our future economy.

This special law on future vehicles will be implemented in earnest in the second half of the year after a six-month grace period and preparation period.

Especially since it was prepared over a short period of time, it is more important than ever to have follow-up regulations that properly reflect the voices of those on the front lines, such as enforcement decrees and enforcement rules.

I am confident that the recent nationwide briefing session, which reflects the opinions of experts and accepts criticism, will serve as a catalyst to increase the competitiveness of future vehicles through solid support measures.

The problem is that although they emphasize importance, it is difficult to properly reflect opinions.

As the related law passed the National Assembly plenary session in December last year, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's core future vehicle human resource development program was simultaneously discontinued in the middle of its growth, leaving it with no future.

Of course, they say that the related programs are being carried out in conjunction with the Ministry of Employment and Labor, but since the Ministry of Employment and Labor's program is completely different from the field professional training program in that the ecosystem is completely different and the missions of the related organizations are also different, connection is absolutely impossible.

Although it emphasizes a seemingly plausible connection, it has already been abandoned and must be started from scratch by another organization.
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This program is the only future car program that I created with great difficulty about five years ago in conjunction with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

At that time, a committee was formed and it was called the 'Future Automobile Field Specialist Training Program' and various strategies such as composition, method, and purpose were established. The budget was formed with difficulty by persuading the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the National Assembly, and the ruling party amidst difficulties due to COVID-19.

And in early 2021, it was launched with a focus on four national flagship universities.

At that time, not only was there no education related to electric vehicles, which were the representative models of future cars, but almost all professors at automobile-related universities had studied internal combustion engines, so instructor training was a priority and there was no writing of textbooks or composition of educational programs.

Since each university did not even have an electric car, we came up with a method by any means necessary, such as searching the Hyundai Motor Company Namyeong Research Center and donating several Ioniq 5 models to each university.

Daerim University, to which I belong, and I were primarily responsible for all the courses, successfully establishing the program, and in the first year, the number of related base universities increased to 4, and in 2022, the number of institutions increased to 6, and in the third year of 2023, representative institutions such as the Korea Automobile Research Institute also participated, making it the only program that has successfully established itself as a true nationwide future vehicle expert training program.

At the same time, it can be said that it is the only school that has achieved the result of graduating more than 600 people every year, centered around key universities and regions such as maintenance shops and parts companies that want to learn about future cars.

As the only successful program in the country became known to those around it, it became the only program benchmarked by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Ministry of Environment, and the Ministry of Employment and Labor, and it also became established as a key expert training program for the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, including as a proud representative program for reporting to the president.bsp;

This could be said to be a case that can be mentioned as the most representative program among global countries, as it is a future car program that has been further intensified based on a 5-year period.

However, following the presidential directive in the first half of 2023 to cut the cost of research and development programs, the government began to seriously protest as random research and development expenses were deleted from each department.

Likewise, this program was also transferred to the Ministry of Employment and Labor under the title of field manpower training program, and the program was ultimately discontinued in December of last year.

The representative organization, Korea Automobile Research Institute, discontinued the program as soon as it was launched last year.

As mentioned earlier, a transfer to the Ministry of Employment and Labor is not possible and is not currently in progress, but none of the participating agencies have any intention of moving to this department.

Unfortunately, the most representative and only program was completely deleted.

Of course, all the data that has been processed so far has been discontinued and will not even be processed in 2024.

It can be said with certainty that it is completely over.

At the final related meeting in December last year, everyone could not help but express disappointment at the absurd and ridiculous national policy of abolishment.

For me, the author of this program, the situation is even more absurd.

This is because it is a representative example of a global program that was built through sacrifice, including donating electric cars, under the guise of volunteer work, and then simply being deleted.

Of course, the companies that lined up to receive training from this program are even more bewildered.

The Office of the President says that the reduced research and development budget will be used for global research and development expenses. However, domestic programs that represent the global market are being eliminated.

Although I had no involvement in the Future Vehicle Special Act enacted in December 2023, the only well-established program that was being implemented at the same time as the special support law was being created is being eliminated through desk work in our Republic of Korea.

It is not important to have fancy special laws, but it is time to have policies that properly build up the small issues that are needed on the front lines.