LG pioneers South Korea’s first corporate graduate school

LG Group is set to launch South Korea’s first corporate graduate school to address the country’s artificial intelligence (AI) talent crunch. The “LG AI Graduate School” will offer formal master’s and doctoral degrees like prestigious universities such as Seoul National University, Yonsei University and Korea University.

The National Assembly of Korea passed a bill allowing large companies to create accredited in-house graduate schools last December. LG Group, the fourth-largest conglomerate in Korea, plans to apply to establish this graduate school when the new law becomes effective in January next year, according to people familiar with the matter on Mar. 19.

The school will be staffed with 20 AI experts, including Vice President Lee Honglak, a professor at the University of Michigan. He is recognized as one of the world’s top 10 AI scholars. LG has plans to enroll 30 of its employees into the program starting in 2026, offering them master’s and Ph.D. degrees recognized on par with those from prestigious universities. The company will also hire external faculty to bolster the program’s quality.

Korean conglomerates have been setting up in-house universities or partnering with universities to foster talent that meets their specific needs. LG’s approach of establishing a graduate school is also a strategic move to cultivate experts in the AI era. “This initiative shows the blurring of the boundaries between academia and industry,” said an industry insider.

Read more : The Chosun Daily