Naju-si to Begin Construction of 'KEPCO University Access Road' This Month

[Naju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yukbong] Naju City, Jeollanam-do (Mayor Kang In-gyu) is embarking on the expansion of urban infrastructure, including the construction of an access road, to ensure the normal opening of Korea Energy Engineering University (KEEU), a government national project, in March 2022.

According to the city on the 14th, the city plans to start construction of the KEEU access road, which will be 643 meters long and four lanes wide (25 to 28.5 meters in width), after consultations with related organizations and various administrative procedures within this month.

A total of 3 billion KRW will be invested in this access road construction, with completion targeted by the end of next year.

KEEU, which aims to nurture world-class energy-specialized talent, is being developed as an ‘energy-specialized cluster leading university’ encompassing research, education, and industry-academia-research cooperation. It is scheduled to be established by March 2022 on a 400,000㎡ site around Booyoung Country Club in the Naju (Bitgaram) Innovation City.

The student body will consist of 600 graduate students, 400 undergraduates, 300 international students, along with 100 professors and 100 staff members. In line with its purpose as a small but strong research-focused university, it aims to maintain one of the highest professor-to-student ratios in Korea.

With the groundbreaking of the access road, the first key urban infrastructure for KEEU’s opening, it is expected that additional infrastructure such as water and sewage, city gas, district heating, electricity, and telecommunications will accelerate.

In particular, upon completion of the access road, it is anticipated that the university will gain competitiveness in attracting large-scale national projects such as the energy research complex and industry-academia-research clusters to be established nearby.

Moreover, the road will function as an access route from Local Road No. 55 (Nampyeong to Seji) passing through Songnim-ri, Sanpo-myeon, to Bitgaram-dong, improving accessibility to the innovation city and enhancing traffic convenience for residents.

Mayor Kang In-gyu stated, “We will devote all efforts to proactive support such as building infrastructure for the normal opening of KEEU. Together with university institutions, we will strive to attract large national research facilities and establish industry-academia-research clusters, fostering Naju as the energy capital of Korea and a growth hub.”

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