Global Hackathon Seoul aims to connect Korean hackers and the rest of the world

In 2014, a total of KRW 1.5 trillion ($1.39 billion) was poured into South Korean startups, according to The Korea Herald. As if that’s not enough, Seoul’s government is turning up the heat further in the coming year with a US$181 million budget set aside for early-stage startups, and another US$400 million for new products and technologies.

Now, the city’s government is looking beyond the borders of Korea to give local hackers more international exposure – and vice versa. It will be sponsoring the aptly named Global Hackathon Seoul, a four-day long event for some 2000 hackers across the world. Of the chosen 2000, half will be student hackers from around the world – handpicked by the team – and the other half will be local computer science and engineering students. Airline tickets and hostel accommodation for all attendees will be fully sponsored, too.

A highly ambitious project

To call it just a hackathon isn’t entirely accurate – since the actual hackathon will only be 36 hours long. According to a statement, Global Hackathon Seoul is dubbed as a “Korean culture infused hackathon + conference + modern job fair.” The event executive director KJ Yoo thinks of it as “the Olympics of hackathons.”

“Not in terms of the grandness, but diversity,” Yoo explains. “The team is putting a lot of effort to bring hackers from countries most people never heard of […] We truly want this to be a global event, where people come together to share and exchange ideas, discuss, and build it on the spot.”

Yoo admits that, when he first proposed the idea to Seoul mayor Park Won-Soon, he felt like he was shooting for the moon. This was because hackathons, while not exactly a new concept in South Korea, are usually held on a national level.

At that point of time, Yoo had been away from Seoul for five years. The idea germinated as he talked to local friends, family members, and entrepreneurs. Inspired by Peter Thiel’s bestselling book Zero to One, and a video interview of Elon Musk, he and a few friends who had attended several hackathons in the US decided to create a global hackathon, and pitched it to the mayor:

I expected I would never hear from him, because I imagined the possible volume of emails he would receive. But, I got a message from the mayor, and I couldn’t believe it. He invited me and my two friends over to the City Hall the next day. The meeting was short. I explained what I wanted to do, the potential benefit it would bring to Korea, and how we were going to execute it. After I was done talking, within a minute he said yes.

To say that it is an ambitious project is to put it lightly, but Yoo believes that this is a unique opportunity “to make a meaningful impact” for him and the 50 or so organizing partners worldwide. Here’s his vision for the event:

Through the event, I want a global network of developers to work together even after the event is over. I want passionate speakers to inspire the attendees to make a global impact. I want businesses and organizations to support the hackers to really better the world. I wouldn’t be surprised if a Korean, German, Israeli, and a US hacker end up starting an exciting project together!

Benefits all around

For Yoo, it’s a win-win situation for both local and international participants. On one hand, international companies get to “experience the incredible infrastructure in Seoul and learn about our blooming tech industry here.” On the other, South Korean companies will have the opportunity to talk and perhaps work with talented hackers from around the world, and hopefully form lasting partnerships.

Yoo reveals that VCs will also be invited to the event, adding the potential of getting invested in as another plus of being a participant. Other than that, Yoo hopes that attending companies will offer internship or employment opportunities. And of course, there will be prizes for the winning ideas, but as Yoo says, “prizes are not the focus, but a bonus.”

See: Hackathon success stories are rare, but here are two startups that broke the mould