Donggurami Foundation Ahn Cheol-soo Guest Visits Jeju National University Professor Song Wang-cheol's Research Team

[Foundation supporter Ahn Cheol-soo and Chairman Jang Soon-heung of the Foundation visited the research team of Professor Song Wang-cheol at Jeju National University, which was selected in the cybersecurity field of the '2021 Innovation Science and Technology Center and Program' supported by Donggurami Foundation]

원본보기 아이콘

The Donggurami Foundation (formerly the Ahn Cheol-soo Foundation, chaired by Jang Soon-heung) visited the research team led by Professor Song Wang-cheol of the Department of Computer Engineering at Jeju National University on the 9th.

The research team was selected in the cybersecurity field of the Donggurami Foundation’s ‘2021 Innovation Science and Technology Centers and Programs’ and received funding of 160 million KRW over one year to conduct research on ‘IBN (Intent Based Networking) and blockchain-based approaches for Zero Touch and Zero Trust (ZT&T).’

On this day, Ahn Cheol-soo listened to the technological research achievements and current status after one year since the 2021 selection, emphasizing the importance of supporting technological research to prevent personal and industrial information breaches, which are among the pressing challenges facing our society. He also discussed with Foundation Chairman Jang Soon-heung about creating an environment to facilitate infrastructure for domestic scientific and technological development researchers and smooth participation of foreign researchers.

The research team led by Professor Song Wang-cheol of Jeju National University’s Department of Computer Engineering, who participated in this technological research and development, attracted attention as it was composed entirely of foreign researchers from Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Mexico, and other countries. Professor Song Wang-cheol stated, “Currently, universities in Jeju and other provinces face many difficulties in recruiting graduate students to participate in technological research.” He added, “In these difficulties, supporting the participation of foreign master’s, doctoral, and postdoctoral researchers can be a good solution, and I hope that such multinational research teams will benefit both Korea and the countries of the participating researchers in the future.”

Ahn Cheol-soo discussed the research environment and institutional support directions for foreign researchers in Korea and continued conversations with the researchers. In response to a foreign participating researcher’s question about the driving force behind his success in various fields and his ability to contribute to society, he answered, “The two core values and triggers common to all my roles as a doctor, entrepreneur, businessperson, and politician are, first, contribution and service to our society, and second, problem solving.” He encouraged foreign researchers in Korea by saying, “I hope they too will become people who discover social problems and contribute to society by solving them through their expertise.”

Regarding the foundation’s purpose in starting this project, he stated, “Although these research tasks are necessary to solve humanity’s future challenges, unfortunately, they have not received support from the government or other institutions.” He added, “Since fostering and investing in scientific and technological research and development will be a key industry responsible for the future of not only the Republic of Korea but humanity, and a core keyword determining future national competitiveness, we will continue to support technological research and development and the creation of environments to solve humanity’s challenges.”

Following this, Donggurami Foundation Chairman Jang Soon-heung said, “The Donggurami Foundation was established with about half of Ahn Cheol-soo’s assets, who succeeded as a doctor turned cybersecurity entrepreneur, and is dedicated to supporting innovative scientific and technological development to solve societal and human challenges.” He encouraged the Jeju National University participating researchers by saying, “I hope that based on the cybersecurity technologies they have learned and researched in Korea, they will become talents who demonstrate great capabilities in the international community and their respective home countries.”

[Circle Foundation Ahn Cheol-soo guest discussing Zero Touch and Zero Trust (ZT&T) system-based cybersecurity technology and the environment for foreign researchers in Korea]

원본보기 아이콘

The Donggurami Foundation is a nonprofit public interest corporation established in 2012 with funds donated by Ahn Cheol-soo, leading efforts to support innovative scientific and technological research and development to solve humanity’s challenges. From 2020, it selected eight centers in the fields of energy, environment, public health, and cybersecurity over three years, providing a total of 4.07 billion KRW in research funding. Through this, projects such as a new reactor system that operates 24 hours without pollutant emissions, gasification technology for waste plastics using biocatalysts, seawater resource technology, control of antibiotic-resistant pathogenic bacteria, development of therapeutics to solve global child hunger, and development of treatments for intractable infectious diseases are currently ongoing.

In the cybersecurity field, in addition to the Zero Touch and Zero Trust (ZT&T) system-based technological research by Jeju National University’s Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation, the foundation also supported the consortium of Korea University, Soongsil University, and Hansung University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundations for ‘Malicious node detection technology used in fraud crimes in mobile communication networks.’

The foundation is currently conducting a new call for proposals in 2023, with AI added to the existing fields. The application deadline is June 30, and more detailed information can be found on the Donggurami Foundation’s website and social media channels.

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.