20 teams advance to finals of 8th K-Digital Training Hackathon

Proposals include vision-assistance service for low-sighted pedestrians, financial fraud prevention tool

Development, presentations and awards run Wednesday through Friday, with Prime Minister's Prize on offer

Ministry of Employment and Labor [Photo by Kim Young-hoon]
Ministry of Employment and Labor [Photo by Kim Young-hoon]

Young developers aiming to solve everyday problems with AI — from helping visually impaired pedestrians navigate dark streets to screening employment contracts for new workers — are gathering this week to compete.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced it will hold the 8th K-Digital Training Hackathon from Wednesday through Friday. Twenty teams that cleared the preliminary round will compete by turning their AI and digital technology ideas into working services.

A hackathon — a portmanteau of "hacking" and "marathon" — is an event in which participants collaborate within a set time to develop apps, web services or business models.

This year's competition runs under the theme "Expanding Human Potential with AI."

All participants are trainees in the ministry's K-Digital Training program, a project-based vocational training initiative that reflects real industry demand and helps young people build practical skills in advanced fields such as AI, robotics and semiconductors.

The finalist teams drew on generative AI, large language models and data analysis to propose solutions to problems in daily life and industrial settings.

Team "Bam Masil" proposed an AI visual-assistance service for people with low vision — including those with night blindness — who struggle to walk safely after dark. The service would detect surrounding conditions and hazards in real time to guide users to safety.

Team "Beyond Facade" will present an AI employment-contract diagnostic service designed to protect new workers from potential harm during the hiring process. The service analyzes relevant laws and public data to verify whether a labor contract has been drawn up legally.

Team "DualLens" proposed an AI financial fraud prevention service called "DualGuard." The system simultaneously analyzes speech patterns in phone calls and detects deepfake video and synthetic audio, providing a two-layer defense against voice phishing and video-call scams.

The competing teams will refine their ideas through expert mentoring and intensive development sessions before presenting their final results Thursday. Judges will evaluate technical completeness, creativity and real-world applicability, and top teams will receive the Prime Minister's Prize and the Minister of Employment and Labor Award at a ceremony Friday.

Employment and Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon said he hopes the hackathon will give young people a chance to apply AI technology directly to challenges facing Korean society and industry, and to showcase the skills they have worked hard to develop. He added that the ministry would expand training opportunities so that young people outside the greater Seoul area can access quality AI training regardless of where they live.


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