"I Will Transform Citizens' Lives Through Smart Policy Research"... Kim Youngjae Inaugurated as New Director of Busan Research Institute

Aiming to Realize Busan as a Future-Oriented Global Maritime Hub City

The Busan Research Institute (Director Kim Youngjae) held the inauguration ceremony for its 14th director on December 1 and officially began its new operations.

Kim Youngjae, the newly appointed director of the Busan Research Institute, is holding an inauguration ceremony and taking a commemorative photo. Provided by Busan Research Institute

Kim Youngjae, the newly appointed director, earned his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Washington in the United States and has served as a professor in the Department of Economics at Pusan National University for over 20 years, building an extensive research record in the field of economic and trade affairs.

He also has broad experience spanning academia, the public sector, and the private sector, having served as president of the Busan China Business Forum (BCB), a platform for Korea-China business exchange, as a non-executive director of the Busan Economic Promotion Agency, and as an outside director of BNK Busan Bank.

In his inauguration address, Director Kim presented the institute's management goal as "becoming a leading policy think tank trusted by citizens, and realizing Busan as a global maritime hub city and a future-oriented city of citizen happiness." He expressed his ambition to "enhance the quality of research through the establishment of a smart policy research system and to transform citizens' lives through field-oriented research innovation."

He went on to outline plans to pursue five major innovation tasks: strengthening internal autonomy and efficiency, expanding data-based infrastructure, establishing an open research ecosystem, and ensuring the sustainability of organizational culture and finances. Director Kim emphasized, "We will focus on fundamentally improving the institute by innovating organizational systems, strengthening research capabilities, and rationalizing financial management."

He particularly stated, "We must make Busan a 'city of youth and dreams,' where young people flock and hope and dreams abound," adding, "When the Busan Research Institute becomes a partner in hope and challenge for Busan, the city can rise as a global hub."

Director Kim Youngjae was deemed qualified by the Busan Metropolitan Council's Special Personnel Hearing Committee on November 24.

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