Busan claims second consecutive overall runner-up finish at national skills competition

Students from Busan claimed 20 medals across 14 events at the 61st National Skills Competition — six gold, seven silver and seven bronze — securing the city's second consecutive overall runner-up finish.

The Busan Metropolitan Office of Education announced Monday that 88 students from 18 vocational high schools competed across 36 events at the competition, held in Incheon from Aug. 22 to Aug. 28, turning in standout performances throughout.

Busan Mechanical Technical High School ranked first among 237 institutions in the national competition's development program, earning the Gold Tower award — its second straight Gold Tower following last year's win.

Gold medals went to Oh Jeong-won in plumbing, Gong Gi-hun in refrigeration technology, Oh Do-hyeon in mechanical design/CAD and Seo Jun-han in welding. Silver medals went to Jo Hyeon-bin in plumbing, Jeon Chang-min in refrigeration technology, Jeong Jae-jun in mechanical design/CAD, Cheon Yun-ho in polymechanics, Im Hyeong-jun in industrial electronics, and Lee Gang-u and Yu Gi-hyeon in mechatronics, contributing broadly to Busan's second-place finish.

Kim Hyeong-ju of Gyeongnam Technical High School took gold in mobile robotics, and Song Eun-chan of Dongui High School won gold in sheet metal and steel structures. Seo Seong-jun of Busan Automobile Meister High School in automotive body repair, Yu Chang-hun of Busan Electronics Technical High School in telecommunications network distribution, Kim Chan-hui of Geumsaem High School in electrical equipment, Jeong Ru-i of Busan Computer Science High School in game development and Kim Se-han of Yeongsan High School in bread-making also earned medals, showcasing the breadth of talent among Busan's vocational high school students.

Including both student and open-category competitors, Busan collected 60 awards in total: 7 gold medals, 8 silver medals, 9 bronze medals, 7 excellence awards and 29 encouragement awards. Vocational high school students — 49 competitors from 13 schools across 25 events — accounted for 79 percent of all student award winners, claiming 6 gold medals, 7 silver medals, 7 bronze medals, 4 excellence awards and 22 encouragement awards, demonstrating strong expertise across a wide range of technical fields.

"We will strengthen support for vocational education so that students at specialized and meister high schools can fully pursue their dreams and develop their potential as skilled technicians of the future," said Superintendent of Education Kim Seok-jun.