Yang Young-cheol, JDC Chairman, "KAIST to be Hosted in English Education City... MOU Signed"

KAIST Global Campus Development Plan
Jeju English Education City to Become a K-Education Model

A global campus of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) will be established in the Jeju English Education City.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 7th, Yang Young-cheol, Chairman of the Jeju Free International City Development Center (JDC), said at a meeting with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport press corps, "KAIST has only a dozen or so foreign professors, so its internationalization index is very low. We need to overcome these limitations through globalization, and Jeju Island is the region to promote this," adding, "At least 100 foreign professors should come to KAIST."

According to JDC, a global campus that will serve as a global scholar hub for KAIST is planned to be established in the Jeju English Education City area of Daejeong-eup, Seogwipo City. JDC recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with KAIST regarding this and is planning to create accommodations, restaurants, childcare facilities, and other necessary infrastructure to attract foreign professors.

Chairman Yang explained, "To attract world-class scholars, first, there must be good hotels; second, good food; and third, good places to take care of children," adding, "We are in the process of addressing these demands."

The English Education City, where the KAIST global campus will be established, was initiated in 2006 with the aim of alleviating the demand for early overseas study and developing Jeju as a Northeast Asian education hub. The goal is to solve the growing deficit in study abroad balance and shift the demand for studying abroad back to the domestic market, thereby contributing to local income and job creation.

Since 2008, four international schools have been established: North London Collegiate School (NLCS), Branksome Hall Asia (BHA), St. Johnsbury Academy (SJA), and Korea International School (KIS). Notably, the student enrollment rate for the 2022?2023 academic year at NLCS, BHA, and SJA reached 93.7%. The admission competition rate for Jeju international schools recently stood at 4.1 to 1.

Daejeong-eup, which had been experiencing a continuous population decline, began to see population growth after the establishment of the English Education City, increasing by 42% from 16,934 in 2010 to 24,020 by the end of 2022. The economic ripple effect is also significant. The annual income generation effect per student within Jeju is estimated at about 41 million KRW, with direct and indirect income generation effects estimated at 197 billion KRW. The study abroad balance deficit due to early overseas study is estimated to have been reduced by 1.1196 trillion KRW cumulatively until 2022.

Approximately 1.9256 trillion KRW was invested in the Jeju English Education City project, where four international schools were established on a site of about 3.79 million square meters. (Provided by JDC)

JDC is currently working on plans to attract additional international schools. In December last year, it signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the establishment of one new international school and is preparing to apply for the necessary planning approval.

Chairman Yang emphasized, "Our mission is to create a school set consisting of seven kindergartens and elementary schools and one university," adding, "We stopped at establishing four schools over eight years, but last year we attracted one more. We want to create a model of K education."

To meet the demand arising from the additional international schools, urban functions will also be expanded. Specifically, administrative support offices, a 119 emergency center, an English education center, a multipurpose sports field, Gotjawal Provincial Park, housing (2,644 apartment units for sale and 242 detached house lots), and commercial facilities will be developed. There is also a goal to attract foreign universities and create a university zone.

JDC also revealed plans for its core project, Healthcare Town. With a total project cost of 1.5966 trillion KRW, Healthcare Town was invested in by China's Greenland Group in October 2012, completed land development in September 2016, and finished the medical service center construction early last year. The site now includes the completed medical service center, Heali PMC Clinic (a cancer specialty clinic), and the KMI Korea Medical Institute Jeju Screening Center.

Although the establishment of a domestic for-profit hospital was canceled, causing difficulties in detailed project implementation, the Healthcare Town project has entered a new phase with the appearance of new investors. JDC plans to turn to overseas operators to develop both a for-profit hospital and a silver town.

Chairman Yang said, "We received a proposal to attract a hospital from Houston, USA, and many first-generation Korean immigrants want to come to Korea," adding, "We are discussing with them about attracting one million first-generation immigrants in the form of a silver town." He also revealed plans to operate cross-regional connections with Japan, Singapore, and Los Angeles (LA), USA in the future.

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