The Busan Metropolitan Office of Education has launched a full-scale initiative to cultivate core local talent to lead the shipbuilding and offshore plant industry. The plan aims to strengthen the workforce foundation of Busan, Korea's maritime capital, by partnering with industry and government to develop "agreement-based specialized high schools."
The Busan Metropolitan Office of Education announced on the 26th that it signed a business agreement for "2026 Ministry of Education Agreement-Based Specialized High School Development Support" with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the Korea Offshore & Shipbuilding Association, HJ Heavy Industries, and Kyungnam Technical High School at its conference room on the afternoon of the 25th.
The core of this agreement is to develop Kyungnam Technical High School into an agreement-based specialized high school for shipbuilding and offshore plant industry development and local talent cultivation.
Under the agreement, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries will support the cultivation of core industrial talent in the southeastern maritime capital region, while the Korea Offshore & Shipbuilding Association will focus on student employment support and recruiting participating companies. HJ Heavy Industries agreed to strengthen field-customized education and employment linkages based on industry-academia cooperation.
An "agreement-based specialized high school" is a model where local governments, education offices, companies, and schools sign agreements to operate customized curricula for regional strategic industries. Beyond simple employment linkages, the purpose is to structurally connect regional industrial ecosystems with education to cultivate talent who can settle in the region after graduation.
The city education office has been building a cooperative system with local specialized high schools, shipbuilding and marine sector companies, and regional universities in line with the Ministry of Education's "2026 Agreement-Based Specialized High School Development Plan." Last year, Busan Tourism High School was selected as an agreement-based specialized high school in the tourism and MICE sector, achieving the result of receiving up to 4.5 billion won in support over five years.
This year, two schools—Kyungnam Technical High School (shipbuilding and offshore plant) and Geumsaem High School (power semiconductors)—are participating in the open call.
Superintendent Kim Seok-jun said, "The development of agreement-based specialized high schools will become the foundation for revitalizing Busan as a maritime capital and systematically cultivating talent needed for regional industries," adding, "I hope this will serve as an opportunity to enhance the competitiveness of vocational high schools and nurture talent who will contribute to regional and national development."