KAIST "Kim Jae-cheol, Honorary Chairman of Dongwon Group, Pledges Additional Development Fund... Total 54.4 Billion KRW"

by Jeong Ilwoong

Published 06 Jan.2025 08:02(KST)

Updated 06 Jan.2025 09:06(KST)

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Kim Jae-cheol, Honorary Chairman of Dongwon Group, recently donated a total of 54.4 billion KRW over the past five years to KAIST to strengthen AI education and research infrastructure.

KAIST announced on the 6th that Honorary Chairman Kim pledged an additional 4.4 billion KRW in development funds. In 2020, he had already donated 50 billion KRW to KAIST as development funds.

Kim Jae-chul, Honorary Chairman of Dongwon Group. Photo by KAIST

At that time, Honorary Chairman Kim urged KAIST to establish the ‘KAIST Kim Jae-cheol AI Graduate School’ to achieve the highest level of expertise in the field of artificial intelligence. However, upon learning that KAIST’s AI research level remained ranked 5th in the world, contrary to expectations, Honorary Chairman Kim requested KAIST to leap to 1st place and pledged additional development funds. This increased the total development funds to 54.4 billion KRW.

KAIST President Lee Kwang-hyung recently met with Honorary Chairman Kim and explained, “Currently, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), ranked number one globally in AI, has 45 professors in the AI field. To surpass this, KAIST’s AI Graduate School faculty must increase from 20 to 50 professors, and a new research building must be constructed to enable focused research.” In response, Honorary Chairman Kim reportedly said, “Don’t worry about the building; I will fund its construction,” thereby pledging additional donations.

KAIST plans to build an education and research building with a total floor area of 18,182㎡ (5,500 pyeong), consisting of 8 floors above ground and 1 basement level, using the remaining balance of the first donation (43.9 billion KRW) plus the second donation (4.4 billion KRW), totaling 48.3 billion KRW.

The research building is scheduled to be completed in February 2028 and is expected to serve as a world-class education and research facility housing 50 professors and 1,000 students.

Honorary Chairman Kim said, “In my youth, I sought Korea’s future in the blue seas of the world, but in the AI era, I foresee finding a new future in the sea of data,” adding, “I hope to nurture global core talents who can lead Korea to become a leader in the era of data exploration and drive the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”

President Lee responded, “I express my respect for Honorary Chairman Kim’s decision and will strive to develop the KAIST Kim Jae-cheol AI Graduate School into the world’s number one AI research group.”