South Korea plans to inject 400 billion won (US$341.1 million) by 2013 to help train quality information technology (IT) industry workers to sharpen its competitive edge, the government said Monday.

The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said state and some private companies will train 35,000 qualified workers within the cited period along with 4,000 high-grade experts. A further 2,000 engineers specializing in product convergence will also be trained in the coming years.

Qualified workers will have the necessary skill level to hold jobs in this sector.

South Korea is a global leader in high-speed Internet access and hardware areas such as semiconductors, displays, mobile phones and hightech electronic appliances.

The country has a large number of experts, but there have been steady calls to train more skilled workers that could help establish longterm growth strategies and cope effectively with changing trends.

Seoul said earlier in the month that it will pour 1 trillion won into the country’s software industry over the next three years.

The ministry will support the creation of “university IT research centers” and the introduction of a local version of the MIT Media Lab program aimed at utilizing an unorthodox research approach to find emerging technologies.

YonhapNewsAgency

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