As South Korea's semiconductor market experiences rapid growth, led by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, Chungbuk Semiconductor High School in Eumseong-gun, North Chungcheong Province, is garnering global attention.
The New York Times introduced the school as having been designated as a Meister high school specializing in semiconductor equipment in 2010, noting it is the oldest of the four Meister high schools in South Korea dedicated to the semiconductor industry.
Located about a two-hour drive from Seoul, Chungbuk Semiconductor High School is equipped with a dormitory that can accommodate 300 students and six simulation facilities for semiconductor equipment.
The media outlet reported that inquiries for admission to the school have more than tripled over the past year, and visitors seeking to study the school's operational model have been arriving in a steady stream.
Notably, these visitors are said to include representatives from a state-run Chinese broadcaster, as China has begun building its own chip industry under government leadership.
Seo Woon-seok, the principal of Chungbuk Semiconductor High School, said in an interview, "It seems our school has become the hottest school in Korea right now."
In fact, the competition rate for new student admissions for the 2026 academic year reached 2.26 to 1, up from 1.51 to 1 last year.
The report also highlighted that many students at the school gain a competitive advantage in securing positions at Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, describing landing a job at these two companies in Korea as being as difficult as "winning the lottery."
Every year, 20 high-achieving first-year students at the school are selected for an internship program that includes scholarships from the two companies.
The New York Times further added that graduates often return to the school to treat their juniors to meals and share stories of receiving hundreds of millions of won in performance bonuses. Principal Seo jokingly remarked, "It is not easy to hear that a former student who has been working for only a year received a bonus larger than my entire annual salary."
However, The New York Times also pointed out concerns that semiconductor manufacturing is a capital-intensive industry, and the total number of jobs could decrease as production processes become automated.
A manager at XT, a partner company that handles equipment maintenance and repair for Samsung Electronics, predicted, "If equipment with automatic cleaning functions is introduced in the future, our jobs might disappear."
Reported by Kim Minjeong | Video by Na Hong-hee | Graphics by Lee Jung-ju | Produced by SBS Digital News
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