Moon-backed energy university welcomes first freshmen

K-campus

Published: 02 Mar. 2022, 18:35 Updated: 03 Mar. 2023, 14:42

Moon-backed energy university welcomes first freshmen

Yoon Eui-joon, president of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology (Kentech), poses for a photo on the school’s campus in Naju, South Jeolla, Wednesday, along with special guests including Moon Sung-wook, minister of trade, industry and energy, and Song Young-gil, chairman of the ruling Democratic Party. [YONHAP]

The Korea Institute of Energy Technology (Kentech) welcomed its first students Wednesday in Naju, South Jeolla, and vowed to foster global talent to tackle the world’s most urgent issues.

The university, located 284 kilometers (176 miles) south of Seoul, is Korea's only university dedicated to energy studies. It is starting with 108 undergrads, 49 grad students and 48 professors. Classes began Wednesday.

Kentech said its mid- to long-term goal is to be ranked as one of the world’s top 10 universities in the energy field by 2050. Through 2025, the school said it hopes to grant admission to a total of 1,000 students and hire 100 professors in the hopes of becoming “a small-sized but intellectually strong university,” with emphasis on energy research and fostering entrepreneurs.

“I’m very proud that Kentech, the nation’s sole university specialized in energy, has received its first batch of freshmen,” said Kentech President Yoon Eui-joon during Wednesday’s ceremony. Yoon urged students to grow into “talented individuals capable of solving the energy and climate issues now facing humanity, while contributing to the co-prosperity of humanity.”

In a statement, Kentech said its five major areas of research will be energy artificial intelligence (AI), new energy materials, the next-generation grid, hydrogen energy, and environmental and climate technology.

Before President Moon Jae-in was elected in 2017, he pledged to establish a university specializing in energy studies in the nation’s southwestern area of Gwangju and South Jeolla. The pledge was a part of Moon's broader vision to boost regional development. Naju, home of the Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) headquarters, was chosen to be the new school’s home.

Construction of the school's campus languished due to controversy over government funding. By 2025, nearly 828.9 billion won ($686 million) is expected to be required for construction and operating costs, most of which is planned to be covered by the state-owned Kepco and its subsidiaries, as well as central and local government coffers.

A total of 400,000 square meters of land have been allotted for the school campus, yet construction of only one building had been completed by Wednesday.

BY JIN CHANG-IL, LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]