Korea University held a kick-off ceremony for the new year

Korea University held the 2019 Kick-off ceremony in the Inchon Memorial Hall at 10:30 am on January 2.

The event was hosted by Ki-Sung Lee, Vice President for Administration and Finance, and attended by Jae-Ho Kim, Chairman of the Korea University Foundation, Jaeho Yeom, President of Korea University, faculty members, and administrative staff.

In his remarks, Chairman Kim stated, “The era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution calls for innovative changes in universities. Universities should be the driving force of creativity and innovation, cultivating next-generation leaders of the society. In order to do so, we need to change our perspectives. If we rest on past successes or fail to think outside the box, we won’t be able to keep up with the fast-changing world. We’ve finished months of the KU presidential election process, and will see new leadership take office in March. If we join hands to build on our past achievements, the year 2019 will be a great year for Korea University,” he added.

President Yeom said, “A university is a space where the university’s corporate body, faculty, students, administrative staff, and alumni respect and communicate with each other and grow together. The development of Korea University can’t be made possible without cooperation of multiple parties. I’d like to thank all of you for your dedication and contributions to the development and changes of Korea University over the past 4 years. We still have many challenges ahead of us to transform it into the university of the 21st century. Korea University should cherish its history of fighting Japanese colonization with a mission of saving the nation through education and strive to become a model university of the 21st century …... I’ll be leaving office at the end of February. It’s been a great honor to have served as the 19th president of Korea University over the past 4 years. I’d like to express my gratitude to all of you for giving me opportunity to work for Korea University. Korea University’s journey towards a better future will keep going under the leadership of the new president. Your constructive input and open communication will play a vital role in this journey.”

President Yeom also said, “To mark its 100th anniversary, Korea University launched a new initiative to become a research-oriented university. And in 2016, around 10 years later, it made the top 100 universities in the world, for the first time as a South Korean university. And in 2018, it made the Top 80 among about 4,800 prestigious universities around the world, and the Top 50 in the categories of humanities, social sciences, natural science, and engineering. The number of international students in Korea University topped 2,000. When including language course students and exchange students, some 6,000 international students are studying on the KU campus. Our next step is to strive to achieve new goals until its 120th anniversary. Again, thank you all for your hard work for making Korea University a university that opens, leads, and shapes the future. Korea University will continue to grow and prosper.”