President Park Seong-hyun, Committed to Creating a 'World-Class Mokpo Maritime University' Through Hands-On Efforts

Holding Meetings with Shipping Company Officials from Busan, Gwangyang, and Others at Least Once a Month

President Park Sung-hyun is receiving a business report for the second half of last year. (Photo by Mokpo National Maritime University)

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Seo Young-seo] Park Sung-hyun, the 7th president of the National Mokpo Maritime University, took office on October 20, 2017, presenting the catchphrase “An international maritime university, No.1 in global overseas employment rate, and a leap forward with an educational system preparing for the 4th future maritime industrial revolution.”

Although there were difficulties in advancing projects and academic administration due to a presidential vacancy lasting about four months at the time of his inauguration, he has devoted himself to the development of Mokpo Maritime University and the local community by presenting a vision to advance as a global maritime university based on his experience and network in the maritime field.

President Park focused on securing the reserved land for North Korean port facilities (approximately 165,000㎡, market value about 30 billion KRW), a long-cherished project of the university for 20 years, as university grounds.

After the request to secure university facility land following the development of the North Port in 1995, the registration was completed in June 2018 as university land after more than 20 years.

On this site, educational facilities such as the Maritime Science Hall lecture building (18 billion KRW), International Exchange Center museum (20 billion KRW), complex cultural center gymnasium, and general stadium will be constructed, along with the Ship Repair Support Center (23.5 billion KRW).

President Park has also encouraged students to change their residence registration to Mokpo City and is making efforts for coexistence and mutual growth with the local community.

With about 3,000 students and 300 faculty and staff, the university operates two training ships, including the recently built state-of-the-art training ship “Segyeroho,” contributing to the Mokpo economy, along with attracting international students to become a global maritime university.

President Park played a significant role in being selected as an autonomous improvement university in the Ministry of Education’s 2nd cycle university basic competency diagnosis evaluation.

After five years, the university was accredited with excellent results by meeting five areas in the university institutional evaluation certification.

Based on this, the university received general financial support without reducing enrollment and achieved the selection for the ‘LINC＋ Project,’ ‘National University Innovation Support Project,’ and ‘National University Development Project,’ securing about 15 billion KRW in financial support over the next five years.

In October 2017, discussions were held to promote exchange and cooperation with the President of Jakarta Maritime University. (Photo by Mokpo Maritime University)

Since taking office, President Park has held meetings with shipping company officials in Busan, Gwangyang, and other locations at least once a month.

Through operating an on-campus employment information center and interview support programs, the university achieved the highest domestic university employment rate (82.3%, 2018 University Information Disclosure).

In the past three years, it has produced over 340 maritime police and Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries officials, earning a reputation as a “Maritime and Fisheries Public Officials Academy.”

To maintain the No.1 overseas employment rate, President Park visits overseas shipping companies in line with the international navigation schedule of training ships, strengthening industry-academia cooperation and laying the foundation for nurturing global maritime talents.

In particular, since his inauguration, he has directly visited political circles and related institutions to discuss and attended related forums to issue resolutions to maintain the Reserve Officer Training System for shipboard service, dedicating efforts for the future of enrolled students.

To improve the educational level of students, he increased the budget for overseas language training and led the construction of the state-of-the-art training ship Segyeroho (9,196 tons) to enhance students’ practical training environment.

On February 1 last year, the Ministry of Education approved the establishment of a secondary school teacher (Level 2) teacher training course, providing students with opportunities to become maritime and fisheries high school teachers.

For the welfare improvement of students and staff, 31 non-regular employees were converted to regular positions, and overseas support expenses for staff were increased, which has been evaluated as boosting morale.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries also achieved significant success in securing budgets for infrastructure improvement, including about 7.5 billion KRW for docking facilities, about 7 billion KRW for remodeling the Maritime Science Hall and Soil Biology Hall, about 5 billion KRW for national university innovation and development projects, about 10 billion KRW in government support for Ministry of Education financial support projects, and a 30% increase in the Maritime University student meal budget.

These achievements were gained through President Park’s commitment to becoming a “salesman” president who would actively work on the ground during his term. The distance traveled using official cars and KTX would be enough to circle the earth several times.

Park Sung-hyun said, “I am running all over the country to create a world-class maritime university representing Korea through students’ overseas shipping company employment and university name changes. The school shines when students grow well. I will run anywhere nationwide to build a world-class maritime university.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.