FEATURE: S. Korea chip boom draws teens from university to factory jobs

EUMSEONG, South Korea - Inside a brightly lit cleanroom at Chungbuk Semiconductor High School, a group of teenagers in head-to-toe protective suits carefully handled silicon wafers, learning the same production processes used in commercial chip plants.

About half of the school's graduates head straight to large companies such as Samsung Electronics Co. or SK Hynix Inc. without ever setting foot in a university classroom.