The Korea Information Security Industry Association (KISIA) and the Ministry of Science and ICT said on the 31st they will hold the "2026 KISIA CTF competition" to identify next-generation cybersecurity talent.
The "2026 KISIA CTF competition" is a cybersecurity contest for college and graduate students nationwide, including students on leave, who are interested in information security. Participants form teams of up to four and solve various problems in a capture the flag (CTF) format, earning points by tackling assigned tasks and competing in hacking defense capabilities.
As the shift to artificial intelligence (AI) accelerates, cyberthreats that exploit AI are also becoming more sophisticated. The Ministry of Science and ICT and KISIA plan to provide participants with hacking defense experiences similar to real-world conditions to identify outstanding security talent early who can respond to new security threats.
The competition will be held with an online preliminary and an offline final. The online preliminary will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Aug. 9, and the top 25 teams will advance to the final. The final will be held on Aug. 18 at COEX Magok in Seoul.
Based on the final results, the top award team will receive the Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT award and 5 million won in prize money. The excellence award and encouragement award teams will each receive the KISIA president's award along with 3 million won and 2 million won, respectively.
KISIA President Kim Jin-su said, "As the government has recently emphasized the importance of systems that find and prevent security vulnerabilities in advance, we will spare no support so this competition can sharpen security talent's practical skills and serve as a springboard for outstanding talent to enter industry."