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University / Inha
A University with a Difference!
Inha University zooms in on New Songdo City for its second campus
“Global Knowledge Enterprise
University Park,” is currently under
planning and development by Inha
University (http://www.inha.ac.kr) in
New Songdo City. Education circles are
keenly watching this second campus
expansion plan by Inha University. They
will be observing how Inha’s launch of
an innovative campus in the intelligent
futuristic city of Songdo, 40 miles
southwest of Seoul, could be geared into
a win-win project with the port city of
Incheon, which aspires to be a hub city of
Northeast Asia.
Several other universities at home and
abroad are planning to open campuses in
New Songdo City. However, Inha
University’s master plan is being seen by
many observers as the most persuasive,
because of the fact that it is a substantial
regional stronghold university. Inha
wishes to establish its identity as a
“Global Knowledge Enterprise
University,” by focusing on the
University’s strengths in science and
technology.
Moreover, Inha University’s second
campus blueprint is in line with Incheon
City’s Songdo U-City plan most fittingly
among several universities’ new campus
plans in Songdo wishing to nurture New
Songdo City as a cutting-edge knowledge
industry cluster. In this regard, Dr. Hong
Seoung-yong, president, Inha University
who was reelected as the 11th president
recently, noted: “For Inha to develop into
one of the global top-10 universities in
the fields of IT, BT & logistics, national
growth industries in the 21st century, it
was inevitable that we should open a new
campus in New Songdo City. Both
Incheon, aiming to be a hub city in
Northeast Asia and a community
stronghold university, and Inha
University will benefit from the launch
of our second campus there.”
According to the second campus plan
of Inha University, covering an area of
550,000 pyeong (roughly 1,815,000
m2), an educational-industrial as well as
research-associated science &
technology-oriented institution will be
attained in its first stage, featuring IT,
BT, NT as well as aerospace and
“For Inha to develop into one of the global Top 10
universities in the fields of IT, BT & logistics, national
growth industries in the 21st century, our campus
moving into Songdo international city is inevitable and
this will also lead to a Win-Win policy between both
Incheon, aiming to be a hub city in Northeast Asia and
a community stronghold university”.
mechanical field-related laboratories. In
addition to this, an R&BD (research &
business development)-oriented national
policy research center and the central
functions such as joint research &
development facilities will be prepared,
Dr. Hong Seoung-Yong,
president, Inha University
plus research support complex city
function facilities in the interests of
organic connection of pivotal functions
and support functions.
In its second stage plan which will
cover 250,000 pyeong (around 825,000
m2), there will be an international
collaboration special hospital, clinical
medicine laboratory, and the first stage
project’s extension. In addition the
Global U8 joint project will be
implemented.
Benchmarking prestigious
international universities
Committing himself to ambitious
aspirations for this campus formation,
Dr. Hong said, “Inha University will
forge the highest campus town, both
nominally and virtually, in the world
after benchmarking Silicon Valley of
Stanford University, Science Park of
Cambridge University, and others that
succeeded as worldwide educationalindustrial
connection models.”
Moving to the globalization of
university education, the Inha president
who held various posts, including vice
minister of Maritime Affairs & Fisheries,
stressed that he firmly believes that the
Songdo campus establishment by Inha
would boost globalization of university
education as well. The president, who
explained that management innovation
ability stems from his diverse
administration experience, said that to
become a hub university of Northeast
Asia, Inha has to increase lectures with e-
learning. For example, Dr. Hong who
elaborated that education’s paradigms are
changing from established closed
education to cyberspace as well as open
space, added that Inha University also
has increased e-learning lectures from the
existing 20 lectures to 120 current e-
learning lectures.
Korea’s universities are changing out
of necessity, but to become a first-class
knowledge country globally, they must
strive further for more creative
innovation, he emphasized, referring to
the fact that Inha still has a long way to
go, even though it is already one of the
top 10 universities in Korea.
Inha had aimed at becoming “MIT of
the Orient” as a super-first rate university
in 1954 when the University was
established and is now striving to stretch
itself into one of the global 100
prestigious private universities by
realizing that establishment goal.
Hong expressed the view that the
accomplishment of this goal is
impossible in the current campus
environment, adding that particularly,
science & technology demand practical
education through an education-industrial
collaboration.
For that reason, Inha University is
pursuing the establishment of the Global
Knowledge Enterprise University in
Songdo. Inha’s Global Knowledge
Enterprise University campus is based on
‘Global’, namely internationalization,
which will be a collaboration with the
“Global U8 Consortium” that Inha
University has been utilizing for
cooperating with prestigious universities
in the meanwhile.
Hong explained that Inha University
has been promoting student exchanges
and joint research with eight prestigious
international universities, including
America’s University of Rhode Island &
University of Washington, China’s
Xiamen University, France’s University
of Le Havre, Israel’s University of Haifa,
Australia’s RMIT (Royal Melbourne
Institute of Technology University). To
develop international programs that
utilize each university’s merits in the
coming months and years, Inha will
extend and develop even more
international exchanges by establishing
an international exchange center,
language education institute as well as
international joint research center, he
said.
“Since our university’s ‘Global
Knowledge Enterprise University’
The Incheon campus of Inha University
campus establishment is an important
project not only just for Inha University’s
development, but also Incheon’s
development in the 21st century, we will
strive to discharge our responsibilities as
a think-tank to advance the Republic of
Korea”, he explained.
In step with the government’s logistics
nurturing policy
Considering the fact that New Songdo
City will become a priority for Seoul’s
efforts to make Korea a Northeast Asia
logistics hub, the president mentioned
Inha University’s development plan for
the logistics field with its Songdo
campus as a logistics differentiation
university.
Actually, Inha University has been
continuously advancing its differentiation
projects regarding logistics education and
research with wholehearted support of
Hanjin Group, a worldwide logistics
enterprise, as well as Inha University’s
foundation. There is widespread
recognition of Incheon’s geographical
advantages, located at the gateway of
Northeast Asia, and the importance of
logistics, the core of a nation’s economy
and corporate competitiveness in the 21st
century.
For instance, the University is
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