Ministry of Employment and Labor selects 30 outstanding cases for national vocational training card program
A person in their 30s who earned three accounting certifications after military service and landed a food industry job takes top prize
Overall training satisfaction rated 9.20 out of 10; 89.9% say they would recommend their course
Han, then in their 20s and working as a cafe manager, watched a collaborative robot brew coffee and wondered: why are cakes still made by hand?
Han enrolled in an AI collaborative robotics course through the National Tomorrow Learning Card program and, during the training, developed a project idea that cleared the first round of a startup support competition. Han now works as a developer at a robotics company.
South Korea's Ministry of Employment and Labor held an awards ceremony Monday for the "2026 National Tomorrow Learning Card Outstanding Case Contest," selecting 30 entries — including Han's written account — as winners. The National Tomorrow Learning Card is a government program that subsidizes vocational training costs for job seekers and workers looking to improve their skills. This year's contest drew 619 submissions in total, comprising 596 written accounts and 23 videos. Seven of the 30 winners, selected through three rounds of judging and public verification, received the minister of employment and labor award.
The top prize went to Seo, a person in their 30s who served six years as a military officer before finding work in human resources and general affairs at a food manufacturing company. After struggling to find employment following discharge, Seo used the National Tomorrow Learning Card to complete vocational training and earned three accounting certifications, including a first-level computerized tax accounting qualification.
Two runners-up were also recognized: one person in their 30s who worked a field job at a railway company while taking AI courses on nights and weekends and went on to take up a practical role at a related firm, and a marriage immigrant woman who obtained a nursing aide certification and secured a job at a dermatology clinic. An excellence award went to a person in their 60s who closed a bicycle dealership they had run for 20 years, earned certifications including a forestry technician license, and was rehired by a local government as a forest road maintenance worker.
A survey conducted by the ministry and Korea University of Technology and Education's Vocational Competency Assessment Institute covered about 469,000 of the roughly 1.51 million people who participated in vocational training last year. Overall training satisfaction came in at 9.20 out of 10, up 0.10 points from the previous year. Some 89.9 percent of respondents said they would recommend their course to others.
By category, satisfaction with instructors was highest at 9.34 points, followed by assessment and feedback at 9.23 points and course management at 9.22 points. By training format, in-person group training scored 9.30 points, blended training 9.01 points and remote training 8.63 points.
Pyeon Do-in, director general of the ministry's Vocational Competency Policy Bureau, said the ministry would "continuously improve the quality of vocational training by incorporating the feedback of trainees."
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