Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-koo Foundation launches social welfare innovation leader program

The Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-koo Foundation announced Monday that it held the first core competency training session of the CMK Social Welfare Innovation Leader Academy at Seoul National University on July 17 and 18. The academy, formally launched at an inaugural ceremony on July 3, has now entered its core training phase, with a second session scheduled for July 24 and 25.

The CMK Social Welfare Innovation Leader Academy is a social welfare talent development project jointly run by the Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-koo Foundation, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and Seoul National University's Social Welfare Research Institute. It was established to cultivate next-generation researchers and practitioners capable of leading change in welfare settings in the AI era.

OpenAI Korea is participating as a technology cooperation partner, providing support for AI agent-based hands-on training. A total of 30 participants were selected for the inaugural cohort — comprising third-year or higher undergraduate and graduate students majoring in social welfare-related fields, as well as field practitioners aged 34 or under with at least three years of experience. From July through December, they will take part in two overnight intensive residential training sessions and a three-month action-learning project.

The first core competency training covered five modules: "Social Impact Leadership," which examined the role of social innovation and entrepreneurial foundations; "Social Justice and Social Policy Design," which explored new social risks such as the rise of single-person households; "Legal and Institutional Rights Advocacy," which addressed everyday legal rights; "Public Care and Social Service Development," focused on mental health and integrated care; and "AI, Big Data and Digital Transformation," a hands-on session on applying AI to drive change in the field.

Following the lectures, participants took part in group discussions organized around their areas of interest — integrated care and mental health, single-person households and social isolation and vulnerable youth, social innovation and community, law and rights and disability, and digital AI and information accessibility — sharing their perspectives on key issues in each area.

The second core competency training session, to be held July 24 and 25, will cover the remaining core modules — including "Space Prescription" and "In the Service Field" (legal and institutional rights advocacy) — along with a mini-hackathon run by OpenAI Korea focused on using AI to solve social problems. After completing the second session, participants will finalize the specific themes and solution development plans for their team-based action-learning projects.

Meanwhile, the Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-koo Foundation held a "Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-koo Scholarship Performance and Strategy Presentation" on July 9 at Ondream Society in Myeong-dong, Seoul, sharing the results of its 15-year scholarship program and announcing future talent development directions and new operational strategies.

The foundation plans to nurture 1,000 future talents over the next five years across five areas: science and technology, culture and arts, international cooperation, global affairs, and Heroes.