SEOUL, KOREA- “Up until now, Korea has been successful in the individual fields of producing semiconductors, electronics, and in shipbuilding. However, as we are now heading into a creative economy, we should focus more on developing a harmony with each individual resource. K-Valley will take the lead in realizing this creative economy by amplifying synergies with different competitiveness,” said Jhun Ha-Jin, member of the National Assembly and chairman of the K-Valley Forum.
K-Valley encompasses sites in four major cities in Gyeonggi Province including Pangyo Techno Valley, Seongnam High-tech Complex, Jukjeon Digital Valley, and Gwanggyo Techno Valley. This knowledge-based cluster, all located within 15 minutes of Gangnam and 50 minutes from the Incheon airport, has over 50 market-leading companies with 60 trillion won in annual sales. There are 19 universities nearby with over 200,000 students, and a number of state and private-run research institutes.
“Despite the substantial resources, there has been no bridge to effectively connect them yet. While companies voiced complaints over lack of talented employees, students have difficulties finding jobs,” said Jhun. This issue is not only limited to K-Valley. While Korea’s youth unemployment is 7.4%, the highest among the OECD countries, over 70% of SMEs failed to hire enough new comers due to a lack of qualified applicants last year, according to a recruiting firm. This data demonstrates a serious mismatch between job seekers and companies.
“Last month, the K-Valley Forum was set up, aiming to take the lead in making the best use of the academic-industrial cooperation in this region. Market-leading companies, colleges, start-ups, the government, and lawmakers all gathered to discuss how to maximize the overall value in this region. Improving communication among them will surely bring about more synergy, the effects of which will maximize their competitiveness,” Jhun said.
He continued “We are aiming to make K-Valley - the K may stand for either Korea or Knowledge – the leading city of a creative economy by fostering a win-win ecosystem.” To this end, the forum plans to set up a technology commercialization center to develop technologies, which are required by companies, in partnership with colleges and research centers. On top of this, it will serve as a global launching pad to help domestic companies team up with global players, and also run tailored training programs to discover and foster talented people.
“The gap seems too high between markets and colleges in terms of perceiving goods and services. We are pushing ahead with the K-Valley Innovation Center (KVIC), which follows the benchmark work done by Germany’s Steinbeis Foundation.”
This foundation in Baden-Württemberg was set up in 1971 in a bid to close the gap between science and economy as most of the education and research done in colleges wasn’t being fully utilized economically. The foundation has carried out projects such as technology development and transfer, training, and consulting programs for diverse areas including engineering, management, economy, and quality control. Today, although the state has relatively few natural resources compared to other regions of Germany, it is among the most prosperous and wealthiest regions in Europe.
KVIC, expected to be run by private companies and supported by the government, will serve as a bridge between companies and colleges with a focus on commercializing technologies and fostering manpower. “With a successful business model of academic-industrial partnership, K-Valley Forum is aiming to make this region the new paradigm of the creative economy and to contribute to raising national competitiveness,” Jhun said.
