KT Teams With Seoul National University on Cybersecurity Training

KT will train its security staff through a dedicated academic programme with Seoul National University, targeting threats created by AI and cloud adoption. The South Korean operator and the university plan to establish a Convergence Security Contract Department to run the scheme. The deal formalises a cooperative memorandum of understanding the two parties signed earlier this year, which already covered staff development.

The arrangement matters because KT sees technological change itself as the driver of new risk. The operator explained that the march of technological development produces more sophisticated cyber threats, which in turn raises demand for professional staff able to respond. In practice, KT is treating security skills as an internal capacity problem, not a procurement problem.

What will the training cover?

The department will deliver a specialised curriculum alongside relevant field training for KT security employees. The syllabus spans four broad areas:

• protecting personal information;
• regulation;
• security governance;
• network safety.

The network safety module carries the most weight for telecom practitioners. It covers AI, cloud, zero trust and 6G. That combination signals where KT expects its attack surface to grow: generative tools inside the enterprise, cloud-hosted infrastructure, identity-centric architectures, and the security questions that next-generation mobile networks will raise before standards fully answer them.

For a carrier, folding 6G into a staff training curriculum is an early move. Network security requirements for 6G remain at an early stage of standardisation, so KT is preparing people rather than waiting for vendor solutions to define the field.

Why did the partners act now?

Kim Young-oh, Dean of the College of Engineering at Seoul National University, framed the urgency in terms of technology diffusion. Security risks are rising because of the "rapid proliferation of generative AI and next-generation communication technologies", he said.

The dean also positioned the discipline in competitive terms. The risks mean "information security is establishing itself as a core competency that determines the competitiveness of companies and nations", he stated. That wording echoes a wider argument in Korean policy circles: that national cyber resilience depends on the depth of the domestic talent pool, not only on technology purchases.

Lee Sun-joo, EVP and head of KT's human resources division, linked the programme directly to staffing policy. The rising risks make it "paramount to continuously strengthen the security expertise" of the operator's staff, she said.

The executive added that KT and the university would "systematically cultivate convergence security experts". The target group needs the skills and technological judgement to address cyber threats facing the company and South Korea as a whole, according to her statement.

What changes for practitioners?

The model is a contract department, an institutional form that ties curriculum design to one employer's needs. KT security staff gain a structured path covering governance, regulation and emerging network technologies, with field training attached. Seoul National University gains a direct industry channel for its engineering faculty.

For other operators, the deal is a template worth watching. Rather than buying security tooling alone, KT is investing in people who can govern and operate it, with a syllabus that already names zero trust and 6G as priorities.

Both partners have not disclosed start dates, class sizes or budgets. The immediate commitment is institutional: the Convergence Security Contract Department builds on this year's memorandum, and its curriculum will define the pace at which KT's security workforce is retrained.