[On the Scene] Children of Military Personnel Build Robots and Learn Coding with LG Uplus and AI

[Financial News] "The most fun part was controlling a robot myself and playing soccer. AI and coding were a little difficult, but I was glad to learn something new."
Park Seo-a, 12, from Inje, Gangwon Province, made the remarks after participating in the I-Dream Challenge LG Uplus AI Plus Camp held on the 14th at Konjiam Resort in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province. Park said, "For now, I can only have simple conversations with AI, but if another educational program is held, I would like to try various activities, such as studying with AI or having deeper conversations."
LG Uplus held the camp in cooperation with the Ministry of National Defense, inviting 110 students in grades four through six who are children of military personnel and 193 guardians, for a total of 303 participants. The event was organized to provide AI education and opportunities for peer interaction to military children, who have relatively few chances to experience educational and cultural activities because their parents serve in remote areas.
With help from mentors, the 110 children of military personnel built their own “Guardian Robots” using sensors and coding. They entered the robot’s features into the generative AI on the design platform Canva to create designs and text, then edited and refined the results themselves to complete presentation materials introducing the robot’s functions.
The venue also featured AI experience booths where children could participate in activities such as an AI photo booth, an AI motion-tracking zone, AI webtoon creation and an AI voice experience. While the students took part in the programs, their guardians attended a special lecture titled “How Should We Raise Our Children in the AI Era?”

This camp was the first hands-on, in-person event under the I-Dream Challenge, an educational program for children of military personnel that LG Uplus and the Ministry of National Defense have operated online since 2020. LG Uplus is also considering incorporating future in-person camps into the regular online I-Dream Challenge curriculum and running them alongside it.
LG Uplus launched online education during the COVID-19 pandemic to help reduce educational disparities among children of military personnel. The online program consisted of 24 classes per course, offered once each in the first and second halves of the year. However, the company determined that military children could continue to face unequal educational opportunities because of their parents’ assignments in remote areas even after the pandemic ended. It therefore expanded the program to include in-person activities where the children could gather and communicate. Lee Myung-seop, head of the Social Contribution (CSR) Innovation Team at LG Uplus, explained, "Military families often live in remote areas and have difficulty accessing educational infrastructure such as private academies. In an era centered on online interaction, we wanted to provide differentiated education that allows children to meet in person, talk and create something together."
Since last year, LG Uplus has expanded the target group for the I-Dream Challenge from military children to include children of firefighters. Next year, it plans to organize an in-person camp for children of firefighters as well.
[email protected] Choi Hye-rim Reporter