Gyeongsang National University Holds '2024 Academic Year Visiting Reporters Invitation Meeting'

Explanation of Major Achievements in 2023 and University Management Directions for 2024

Also Addressing Key Issues Such as Expansion of Medical School Quotas

Gyeongsang National University held the ‘2024 Academic Year Press Conference for Accredited Reporters’ on the 11th at the Asia Lakeside Hotel in Jinju to mark the new semester of the 2024 academic year, explain last year’s major achievements and the university’s management direction for 2024, and listen to reporters’ suggestions for university development.

The conference was attended by President Kwon Soon-ki, Vice President for Research Kim Gon-seop, Vice President for Academic Affairs Kwon Seon-ok, Vice President for Chilam Campus Jeong Jae-woo, Dean of Student Affairs Kang Jeong-hwa, Director of Information and Computing Seo Young-geon, and about 40 accredited reporters. The conference proceeded in the order of participant introductions, the president’s greeting (explanation of major achievements and university management direction), and a Q&A session.

In his greeting, President Kwon said, “I deeply appreciate your continuous interest in our university and your active reporting. I receive daily reports on media coverage and am always grateful. Especially, I thank you for your coverage and reporting related to the selection for the Glocal University 30 Project.” He added, “Not only good articles but also critical ones occasionally appear, and I am thankful for those as well. It is thanks to articles that accurately point out problems that systems get improved.”

Press conference with Kwon Soon-ki, President of Gyeongsang National University.

President Kwon spoke about the achievements of the integration between the former Gyeongsang National University and Gyeongnam National University of Science and Technology, saying, “A representative achievement of the integration was revealed in the area related to campus startups. The Chilam Campus was specialized as a space for medicine and life sciences, industry-academia cooperation, startups, lifelong education, and citizen-open spaces. Based on this, especially in 2023, we consecutively secured four government financial support projects related to startups, establishing ourselves as a national hub national university equipped systematically with hardware, software, and educational innovation programs for startups. This was a synergistic effect of the existing research competitiveness of Gyeongsang National University and the startup education infrastructure of Gyeongnam National University of Science and Technology.”

He continued, “Another achievement of the integration was the establishment of colleges and departments demanded by the nation and region. Through the consolidation and abolition of similar and overlapping departments, we established the College of Aerospace and the College of IT Engineering, and newly created the Department of Media Communication and the Department of Fisheries Biomedical Science. In particular, the establishment of the College of Aerospace greatly contributed to being selected for the Glocal University 30 Project.”

Regarding the core initiatives of the Glocal University 30 Project in aerospace and defense, President Kwon said, “The College of Aerospace (a college) was already established as the first of its kind in Korea, and in the first semester of the 2024 academic year, 109 freshmen enrolled.” He introduced, “These freshmen receive full support for tuition and dormitory fees, and outstanding students are also given living allowances. We operate employment-linked curricula such as the ‘KAI Track’ and the ‘Hanwha Systems Track.’”

Regarding the much-discussed ‘Making 10 Gyeongsang National University-sized Seoul National Universities,’ he emphasized, “This is a feasible model that can guarantee national balanced development in an era of population decline and regional extinction. It is a regional university development model that nurtures talent at the level of Seoul National University by linking regional industries, prestigious domestic and international universities including Seoul National University, and domestic and international research institutes in the aerospace and defense fields.”

He also said, “The core is to award a ‘joint degree’ bearing both the names of Seoul National University and Gyeongsang National University to Gyeongsang National University students admitted to the aerospace field who meet Seoul National University’s graduation requirements. Depending on Seoul National University’s intention, we can consider a ‘joint degree system’ that separately establishes joint degree completion criteria, or a ‘dual degree system’ that matches Seoul National University students’ graduation standards.”

Regarding the expansion of the medical school quota, President Kwon Soon-ki emphasized, “Although there is a difference in scale, the expansion of the medical school quota is supported by the vast majority of the public, including medical personnel. On March 4, Gyeongsang National University applied to the Ministry of Education to increase the medical school quota from the current 76 to 200 by adding 124. The reason is simply to provide high-quality medical services to the residents of Gyeongnam as a national hub national university of Gyeongnam.”

He particularly stressed, “Gyeongsang National University Medical School is the only medical school covering the central-western region of Gyeongnam and the eastern region of Jeonnam, and will be the main body for establishing the Changwon Medical School in the future. As the only and core educational institution training doctors working in this region, we must prepare various policies to expand regional talent recruitment and induce doctors who graduate from regional medical schools to train and settle in the region.”

President Kwon stated the university’s vision as a national hub national university, saying, “Gyeongsang National University is overcoming the era’s crises such as declining school-age population, the pandemic, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and digital transformation, and is establishing itself as a university leading higher education in Korea.” He emphasized, “Although located in a small local city, it is proudly advancing as a prestigious university with global competitiveness.”

Reflecting on his final year in office, President Kwon Soon-ki said, “It feels like the first year of my term with a packed schedule,” and highlighted efforts such as ▲ ensuring the early normal operation of the Glocal University 30 Project ▲ final adjustments of similar and overlapping departments and colleges in the integrated university ▲ encouraging major national projects and national R&D projects to achieve results ▲ encouraging achievements in large startup-related projects ▲ preparing to hand over the university’s current issues and major projects well to the next president.

President Kwon said, “I hope to be remembered as a president who firmly laid the foundation for Gyeongsang National University to leap forward as a world-class prestigious university, faithfully performed the role of a partner in regional innovation and development as Gyeongnam’s national hub national university, and actively listened to the voices of university members and worked hard to resolve difficulties.”

He expressed gratitude to the journalists attending the press conference, saying, “Thanks to many people, I believe I have performed well as president. I will remember and repay this. Especially, thanks to the help of journalists, I was able to accomplish a great deal.”

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