KAIST to build global campus in New York for first time as Korean uni

[Source: KAIST]

South Korea’s prestigious research-oriented university Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) will establish an overseas campus in New York to nurture global talents and play a role as a gateway for Korean startups to enter the global market.

KAIST president Lee Kwang-hyung said last week that the school will open a global campus in New York which will accommodate both Korean and international students. It will be the first overseas campus established by a Korean university.

Lee said that New York, one of the most competitive cities in the world, will be a testbed for the school’s international operation before adding a new campus in Silicon Valley. It will take two to three years to open the school, he said.

Bae Hee-nam, a Korean-born businessman who has become a real estate mogul in the United States, pledged to donate a land and building in New York. Lee and Bae said a 93,000-square-meter area in Long Island and a 36,000-square-meter site in Staten Island are the strongest candidates.

Bae, chairman of Global Leadership Foundation, moved to the U.S. in 1981 after graduating from Yonsei University and has become a successful real estate investor in New York. He said he decided to join the project as he agreed with Lee on the necessity to help Korean youth to go global and become global leaders.

KAIST will send some of its Korean campus students to the New York campus and also pick 100 to 200 local students in the American city in the first year. The New York campus would have 30 departments, including the ones in which KAIST has strength including artificial intelligence, bio engineering, financial engineering and cultural technology, as well as new departments that can meet the educational needs of the U.S., Lee said. “KAIST is far superior to some prestigious local schools (in the city) such as Cornell, Columbia and New York in the engineering department, so it has competitive edge,” he added.

The school expects the New York campus will help provide more opportunities for Koreans to lead international projects. It will also support Koreans to start a new business in the city and go public on Nasdaq.

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