South Korea and Cambridge, UK-based semiconductor and software design company Arm Holdings have agreed to cooperate on artificial intelligence(AI), with a focus on strengthening the industry and establishing specialized schools to train new talent.

The presidential office announced on Friday that the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources and SoftBank's chip unit Arm signed a memorandum of understanding(MOU) and will form a working group to establish a so-called “Arm School,” specializing in semiconductors.

Kim Yong-beom, the top office's director of national policy, said the envisioned graduate school will train one-thousand-400 world-class chip designers.

Kim said the institution will be a valuable asset to the semiconductor sector, including fabless companies, where South Korea lags behind.

To achieve this goal, he said the ministry aims to expedite the designation of semiconductor-specialized graduate schools and is considering the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology as the top candidate.

Kim added that President Lee Jae Myung has called for more cooperation and investment between Arm and Korean start-ups.