Korea places first in int'l skills competition

World Skills gold medalist Cho Yong-ku, left, Lee Gyu-chul, center, and medallion winner Kwon Sung-chul pose at the 42nd World Skills Leipzig 2013 competition in Leipzig, Germany, July 7. Korea placed first in the competition, winning 12 gold, five silver and six bronze. / Yonhap

By Kwon Ji-youn

Korea placed first in the 42nd World Skills Leipzig 2013 ㅡ an international skills competition ㅡ held in Leipzig, Germany, from July 2 to 7, winning 12 gold medals, five silver and six bronze.

The nation reconfirmed its status as a leading country in technology by securing its 18th win.

Of the winners, three stood out. They were Lee Gyu-chul, Cho Yong-ku and Kwon Sung-chul, who are all 19 and graduated from “Meister” schools specializing in technology.

“We are proud to have proven to our juniors that if you do well in school, you will do well in a global setting,” the three said.

Lee has been engrossed in computer programming since he was young. He chose to attend Gyeongbuk Machinery Technical High School in order to develop his skills at an early age, even though he excelled in school as well. He won a gold medal in information technology.

Cho, who won the gold in web design, said that he was determined to raise the standards of programming in Korea. He graduated from Chongbuk Semiconductor High School.

Kwon, who graduated from Kumoh Technical High School, said that though he received a medallion of excellence rather than a medal, he is now more motivated to begin his winning streak.

Kang Dong-seok, 20, won the gold medal in confectionary. Kang’s gold is Korea’s first in that category. He, who learned martial arts until 10th grade, is known to have nerves of steel. He graduated from Chungbuk Health and Science University.

“Because the competition in confectionary takes four days and 22 hours to complete, it requires a lot of endurance,” Kang said. “Although the judges attempted to break my attention span, I tried and succeeded in staying composed.”

Kim Seung-min and Seo Dong-chan, who both graduated from Namwon Yongsung High School, together won a gold medal in the mobile robotics category. Having failed in a preliminary round before, they were determined to win this year.

All participants prepared thoroughly for the competition. They even practiced during the night to make up for the time difference.

The skills competition has an age limit ㅡ one must be under 22 years old to participate.

One cannot enter the competition twice, so to all participants, it was their first and last skills “Olympics.”