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(Yonhap Interview) SNU's new international campus to become education hub: university head
By Oh Seok-min
SEOUL, Feb. 11 (Yonhap) - Seoul National University, one of the most prestigious universities in South Korea, will set up a new international campus in southern Seoul with the aim of turning it into the global education hub, the head of the university said Thursday.
"Establishment of the Siheung (City) international campus (of the university) will help my university grow into a globalized university,"  | | Lee Jang-moo |
, president of SNU, said in an exclusive interview with Yonhap News Agency.
"The new campus has already drawn huge attention both at home and abroad particularly due to its geographical proximity to China, which is a huge education market."
Lee signed a memorandum of understanding with Gyeonggi Provincial Governor Kim Moon-soo and Siheung Mayor Kim Yun-sik on setting up the Siheung campus in the city's Gunja district last Tuesday. Siheung is located about 40 km southwest of Seoul.
The construction work for the new campus project is to begin next year, if things go well, and the first lecture at the new campus is expected to start in 2014 or 2015, he said.
"The number of students in South Korea has been decreasing, while the number of schools has not. So it has become a social problem. One of the answers to the problem for this country is to attract talented students in China to here and become a strong education exporting nation," he said.
"In an effort to secure more competitive students, I will first focus on attract the students in China's three Northeastern provinces which are geographically close to Korea," Lee said. He added that in four or five cities in the United States his university will have several briefing sessions in the first half of this year in a bid to bring talented U.S. students here.
To offer more opportunities for foreigners, the school will consider allowing them to start the new semester in September rather than in March, the typical beginning month for new students under the current South Korean educational system.
Since his inauguration four years ago, The SNU president has tried to upgrade the school a notch higher "by creating a more globalized environment (inside the campus)," he said.
The university now has more than 200 foreign professors and plans to employ 50 or more foreign professors this year. It also has more than 3,000 foreign students including 2,300 regular ones.
"The foreign professors will account for 30 percent of all faculty members (of the school) by 2025," said Lee, stressing the importance of the longer-term plans to ensure globalized and high-quality education.
graceoh@yna.co.kr
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