단국대학교

“Open the age of DKU Innovation 5.0” Sharing his blueprint to ‘increase university finances and enhance its reputation.’ The Dankook University Foundation, led by Chairman Hosung Chang, convened its Board of Directors meeting on July 21st and appointed professor Soon-Cheol An from the Department of Political Science and International Affairs as the nineteenth President of Dankook University. President An graduated from Dankook University’s Department of Political Science and International Affairs and received his PhD from the University of Missouri before returning in 1997 to teach at his alma mater. Since then, he has served as head of the Office of Planning, head of the Secretarial Team, Dean of the College of Social Sciences, Dean of the Graduate School, and Executive Vice President of External Affairs. In these roles, he made extensive gains across various fields for the growth of the university. He also contributed to the advancement of the Korean Political Science Association as its Vice Chair. His term as DKU President will be for four years, beginning on August 26, 2023. The University President Nomination Committee consisting of 13 members, including professors (honorary and incumbent), students, faculty, alumni, and social leaders, opened nominations for the university’s president on the DKU website last March. After reviewing candidates’ educational philosophies, vision, and commitment to overall university management, professor An was named President. The University Board introduced indirect elections for appointing the university president beginning with the 18th president in order to discover new leadership who can build on the university’s founding principles and also drive change for the future. Indirect elections were adopted to support democracy in university operations and make the electoral process more transparent. The newly appointed President, Soon-Cheol An, summarized the history of Dankook University by dividing it into different stages of innovation. He referred to the first stage as version 1.0 when it became the first 4-year private college in Korea after liberation from Japanese colonial rule, followed by its upgrade to university status as 2.0. Then the opening of the Cheonan campus as 3.0 and the relocation to the Jukjeon campus as 4.0. Now, he said, the university is ready for DKU Innovation 5.0 to lead the fourth industrial revolution. Accordingly, he announced his plans to “open the age of Dankook University 5.0 to respond to our changing times” by implementing two key strategies of increasing university finances and enhancing the university’s reputation. To realize DKU Innovation 5.0, the incoming President stressed his plans to strengthen the university’s reputation and competitiveness by increasing the university’s finances by attracting more government research grants and university development funds, investing in technology commercialization and technology holding company subsidiaries, and establishing school-based enterprises. Moreover, An emphasized plans to sharpen the university’s competitive edge by building a sustainable research platform for global studies. Based on the university’s mid-to-long-term development strategy of Dynamic Dankook 2027, incoming president An shared his vision to implement the two key strategies while pursuing initiatives for future growth across the seven key areas of education, research, students, industry-academia partnerships, globalization, administration, and finance. Twenty-four specific initiatives were set forth under these areas to achieve DKU Innovation 5.0. In education, initiatives will be implemented for an innovative education infrastructure and securing top-notch educational competitiveness. In research, plans will be implemented to build a sustainable research platform, advance internationally distinguished research, and improve QS ranking. For students, the university will form a user-centric learning environment and university culture, while for industry-academia partnerships, a glocal ecosystem will be set up to boost entrepreneurial collaborations. Furthermore, the university will establish a university education system that meets the standards of global institutions (globalization), strengthens accountability in administration through system innovation while improving working conditions for faculty members (administration), and secures stable finances along with efficient fund operations (finance). Upon his appointment, An said, “[I] will strive endlessly to nurture Dankookites to lead in the age of the fourth industrial revolution by building on the university’s history and tradition while deeply connecting with each member of the university.”

Dankook’s Overseas Volunteer Corps have returned from volunteering in Cambodia and Mongolia. Thirty-five members of the Jukjeon campus Overseas Volunteer Corps, led by Moon-seok Seo, visited the Tatok School in Siem Reap, Cambodia for 11 days starting June 24th to volunteer. During this time, the group taught students math, science, and art, helped prepare meals, and helped with the maintenance of school facilities. Volunteers also held performances, demonstrating traditional Korean dance, taekwondo, and K-Pop dance to spread awareness of K-culture. The act of volunteering and sharing was especially meaningful for DKU graduate school student Ket Chanthon in giving back to the Cambodian community. Meanwhile, thirty members of the Cheonan campus Overseas Volunteer Corps, led by Ki-hong Kim, also took part in volunteer work at School #9 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia for 9 days starting June 24th. School #9 is a large school in Mongolia where more than 3,000 students from elementary, middle, and high school study. The volunteer corps took part in projects, such as teaching Korean language, science, art, and physical education, as well as building maintenance and painting murals. They also offered health education information while visiting the University of Mongolia and engaged in cultural exchanges. “This trip made me thankful for what I have while instilling perseverance in me that I believe will give me the strength to not give up when faced with hardships,” said Min-ji Lee (Senior, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering) who was a part of the delegation to Cambodia. “I can still see the excited faces on the children who were learning science for the first time with us,” said Su-rin Cho (Junior, Department of Materials Science and Engineering) who volunteered in Mongolia. “Working together with other volunteers in various areas has been the driving force behind my own personal growth.” Dankook University has carried out domestic and overseas volunteer work since the volunteer corps was first founded in 2007. Since then, over 2,400 students and faculty members have taken part in volunteering overseas in countries such as Mongolia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Nepal, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, and Laos in line with the university’s guiding principles in education to practice ‘Truth and Service.’

From May 1, Dankook University will start its ‘KRW 1,000 breakfast’ program. The university was selected for the ‘KRW 1,000 breakfast’ program hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs (MAFRA), and the Korea Agency of Education, Promotion & Information Service in Food, Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries (EPIS). With this program, affordable breakfasts will be provided to Dankook’s 13,400 student body for seven months starting from May 1 to November 30, excluding public holidays and summer break. The program was created to increase rice consumption and offer healthy breakfasts to students who often skip their morning meal. Students will pay KRW 1,000 with KRW 1,000 support from MAFRA and KRW 2,000 from the university to relieve the financial burden experienced by students in the age of surging food prices. At the Jukjeon Campus Hyedang Hall student cafeteria, 100 meals will be prepared on a first come first serve basis from 8:30 to 9:30 in the morning from Monday to Friday. The catering company at the cafeteria has agreed to also take part, contributing an additional KRW 1,000 per meal as the program is for a good cause. At the Cheonan Campus, the student cafeteria on the third floor of the Student Hall will prepare 70 meals each day from 7 to 9:30 in the morning from Tuesday to Thursday, each week.

Dankook University (Chairman Hosung Chang) delivered KRW 28,484,950 in donations to Korea’s Red Cross on April 24th to support victims of the devastating series of earthquakes that shook Turkey and Syria in February. Chairman Hosung Chang of the Dankook Board, DKU President Soo-bok Kim, and over 1,340 employees from the university and its hospital and dental hospital took part in the donation campaign. The funds will be used to provide emergency relief and support reconstruction work in the areas hit by the earthquake. “I express my deepest condolences to the people of Turkey and Syria who have suffered greatly from the earthquakes and hope that this donation can extend some help to restoring their homes and comfort those who have lost much in their daily lives,” said Hosung Chang. Dankook has continuously made donations to emergency relief areas at home and abroad, including the forest fires in Uljin and Gangwon, as well as for the war in Ukraine to practice the university’s guiding principles of truth and service by carrying out its social responsibility.

Injecting KRW 53.6bn to form an Industry-Academia-Research Innovation Hub in South Chungcheong Province To house 124 bio-healthcare and high-tech components & materials companies Generating one thousand jobs and KRW 200bn in revenue Dankook University overcame stiff competition from nearly nine other proposals to be selected as the ‘4th Campus Innovation Park University.’ Accordingly, DKU will partner with South Chungcheong Province and the city of Cheonan to form a new industrial complex. The Campus Innovation Park is a joint project carried out by three government ministries (Ministry of Education, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport (MOLIT), and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS)) to strengthen the government’s initiatives for industry, academia, and research cooperation and corporate capability building by taking idle land on university campuses and turning them into high-tech urban industrial complexes that include spaces for businesses to operate (Industry-Academia-Research Innovation Hub) and create an ecosystem for innovation. Selected for the project, DKU will extend integrated support for companies in the areas of bio-healthcare and high-tech components and materials. The Campus Innovation Park project will be initially funded until December 2027 with a total of over KRW 53.6bn, composed of KRW 19.05 in state funds, KRW 17.57bn in advanced investments from LH Corp, KRW 11bn in provincial funds from South Chungcheong Province and the city of Cheonan, as well as KRW 6bn in matched funds from the university. Dankook will work with public institutions on administrative procedures needed to build the industrial complex plan until 2025. Construction of the Industry-Academia-Research Innovation Hub facilities is slated for completion by 2027. During this time, plans are to attract 124 relevant businesses and research institutes to generate KRW 200bn in annual revenue and over 1,000 jobs. The Industry-Academia-Research Innovation Hub, the heart of the Campus Innovation Park, will be located on 21,453㎡ of Dankook’s land near the Cheonho Lake, which has recently emerged as a popular destination in Cheonan. Standing 12 stories tall, the hub will cover 19,997㎡ gross floor area and serve as home to a joint lab (analysis lab) and work space for high-tech components and materials and bio-healthcare stakeholders, startups and Post BI (post-business incubator) players, innovation institutes and startup accelerators, institutions that offer assistance in starting businesses and provide administrative support, and corporate research centers. After building the Industry-Academia-Research Innovation Hub (high-tech and startup zone), Dankook plans to create an Open Space Zone - Startup Incubator Center and Open Space Hall - and a Bio Healthcare Zone - Smart Medical Demo Complex- both to be newly built, in line with the university’s mid to long-term development plans.

On April 3rd, defending champions, Dankook University, repeated their victory, taking the top spot at the 20th Haksan Kim Seong-ryul National Jangsa Ssireum Contest held in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province. Competing teams hailed from 13 universities. Dankook defeated Inje University and Inha University to go on to the finals where the team took the winning trophy after beating Kyungnam University 4:3. Ssireum team captain, Ji-yul Kim (Dept. of International Sports, Senior), received a thunderous applause from the audience after demonstrating his fighting spirit and ending a close match in success, despite an injury. In the individual rounds, Yeong-chan Song (Dept. of International Sports, Sophomore) won the Yeoksa class (105 kg amateur weight class) again after also taking first place at the 53rd Presidential Cup National Ssireum Championship. Coach Doo-sik Joo, who received the Best Coach Award, said that “Yeong-chan and Ji-yul played key roles in the win, despite personal injuries,” and expressed his gratitude to the team saying, “I would like to thank all the athletes who displayed their mental strength and fighting spirits and to all members of the Ssireum team who united in the name of Dankook.”

Covering more than 85,000 words, including from traditional and modern Mongolian, as well as idioms The Institute for Mongolian Studies at Dankook University, which set up the first department for Mongolian studies in Korea in 1993, compiled the world’s largest Mongolian dictionary, The Great Mongolian Korean Dictionary (蒙韓大辭典) (Dankook University Publishing, 2023). Composed of two volumes, the dictionary runs 3,090 pages and covers over 85,000 words. This was a feat accomplished nearly 700 years after Korea, under the Goryeo dynasty, first started interacting with Yuan dynasty and 15 years since embarking on the mammoth task to compile the dictionary in 2009. Until now, Korean researchers studying Mongolian relied on Mongolian dictionaries in English, Japanese, or Chinese. The institute addressed this inconvenience by translating, editing, and supplementing the Mongolian Language Detailed Dictionary (2008), the so-called ‘Mongolian dictionary for Mongolians,’ published by the Institute of Language and Literature at the Mongolian Academy of Sciences. This effort resulted in adding 5,000 more entries than before. The new dictionary contains idioms, proverbs, riddles, and archaism extracted from all Mongolian literature since Genghis Khan established the Mongol Empire in the 12th~13th century. Headwords are introduced in the order of Cyrillic (modern Mongolian), traditional Mongolian (Uighur), the corresponding Korean word, example sentences in Cyrillic, and a Korean translation of the Cyrillic example sentences. In addition, Russian and Tibetan loanwords, dialects, archaic words, and newly coined words are set forth in the order of consonants in the Mongolian alphabet to enhance understanding language used in all parts of Mongolia, including Inner and Outer Mongolia. The dictionary will not only be helpful for those studying Mongolian in Korea, but also to those studying Korean in Mongolia and students preparing to study in each other’s countries. The appendix contains a brief look at Mongolian grammar to make it easier for the public to learn the language, as well. Rather than providing extensive descriptions like an encyclopedia, the dictionary focuses on offering the exact corresponding Korean terms. The Korean definitions of Mongolian words are based on pure Korean, while observing Korean language norms for Korean descriptions and the loanword orthography standard set forth by the National Institute of Korean Language. Loanwords from Chinese are indicated using simplified Chinese characters to show relevancy to the original Chinese word. “Mongolian dictionaries previously published in Korea did not have many entries and lacked sufficient example sentences, mostly serving beginners or those traveling to Mongolia. However, this dictionary will open doors to more active research on Mongolian language and culture, as well as enabling comparative studies with the Korean language,” explained Honorary Professor Seong-gyu Lee, who also commented that “it is a very meaningful step in the field of humanities.” The Institute for Mongolian Studies also previously published the Dictionary of Nomadic Culture in Northeast Asia in 2017, introducing rich nomadic culture, including that of Mongolia, to Korea.

Eighteen businesses sponsored by the DKU Startup Support Foundation’s initial startup package program last year have recorded KRW 10 billion in revenue and successfully attracted KRW 5 billion in investments. On March 17, Dankook’s Startup Support Foundation, headed by Kihoon Yeom, held a Startup Performance Presentation at the El Tower in Yangjae-dong, Seoul. There, the 18 startups shared their business results and held prototype demonstrations of their products. It was a meaningful gathering where each startup shared the story behind their business and how they attracted investments. According to the Startup Support Foundation, these startups applied for over 40 patents during the past year and created 50 new jobs thanks to support from the university. Lucky Home Inc., a pet product startup, registered over KRW 2 billion in revenue, while Mona Electric Inc., a secondary battery equipment manufacturer, succeeded in attracting KRW 900 million from investors.

Dankook University’s Next-generation Semiconductor Project Group (headed by professor Yong-seo Koo) signed an MOU with the Korean branch of ON Semiconductor, a global leader in power semiconductors, to work together in fostering semiconductor specialists. The MOU ceremony was held on March 8th at Dankook’s Jukjeon campus with representatives from both parties attending, including DKU Vice President of Industry-academia Cooperation, Oh-young Kim, professor Yong-seo Koo, who leads Dankook’s Next-generation Semiconductor Project Group, onsemi HR Vice President Jong-gon Kim, and Sang-su Bae, Head of the HR Group at onsemi. Under the MOU, the two parties will make efforts to advance the industrial and academic ecosystem for semiconductor research by jointly pursuing an undergraduate and masters internship program linked to employment opportunities, participate in joint research and government R&D projects, hold sessions regularly for research exchanges, jointly develop and operate a talent cultivation program tailored to corporate needs, implement an employment and startup support program, and expand technology business developments. Last year, Dankook University had technology transfers worth around KRW 2.7 billion. Along with the Next-generation Semiconductor Project Group, Dankook plans to focus on nurturing key talent by advancing practical training courses in all areas related to semiconductors - from semiconductor devices and materials to processes and design through cooperation with the convergence semiconductor engineering major (undergraduate program) and the Department of Foundry Engineering (graduate program) and stepping up efforts to win government projects. onsemi is one of the global leaders in power semiconductors and was named a Fortune 500 company in 2022. Its 2022 revenues recorded KRW 8 trillion, and the company is among the top 20 global semiconductor players listed on the S&P 500. onsemi Korea has 1,900 employees and is the largest power semiconductor business in Korea, registering over KRW 1 trillion in revenue last year and also being named in ‘Korea’s Exemplary Workplace (2022)’ list. “The MOU will lay the groundwork for cultivating core talent through joint research and a practical training course across all areas of semiconductors including power semiconductors,” announced DKU Vice President Oh-young Kim. Meanwhile, onsemi Vice President Jong-gon Kim said, “a close partnership will be built across various fields through the MOU with Dankook University to nurture outstanding talent in semiconductors and connect them with career opportunities.”

Among the six universities participating in the Ministry of Science and ICT’s STAR-Academy (Science and Technology Acceleration for Region+Academy) project to commercialize science and technology, Dankook University was selected as having the most outstanding project group following evaluations of the project’s first-year performance. The project was introduced to ensure cutting-edge technologies are not overlooked in the market but supplied appropriately to sharpen the competitiveness of companies while also promoting the reach of relevant research findings. The essence of the project is to nurture professionals with graduate degrees. “[We] set up a Department for Science & Technology Policy Convergence in the general Graduate School and admitted fifty new students to lead practical technology development related to digital healthcare and cutting-edge machinery that leverage artificial intelligence,” explained professor Sung-han Rhim who heads the project at Dankook. He shared the blueprint to “continuously foster 40~50 students with masters and doctoral degrees each year, supported with government subsidies worth a total of KRW 6.8 billion by 2027.” The Department of Science & Technology Policy Convergence offers a selection of majors including Science & Technology Policies, Science & Technology Commercialization, and Science & Technology Startups. The curriculum for Science & Technology Policies covers relevant policy data, artificial intelligence, and technology innovation policies, as well as science & technology governance and sustainability. The Science and Technology Commercialization major touches on topics such as technology valuation, technology commercialization strategies, patents and intellectual property rights, and technology forecasting and planning. Those majoring in Science and Technology Startups will dive deep into business feasibility analysis, startup policies, Acceleration practices, and study overseas startups. In addition to fostering professional talent, the project group is also working on setting up an ecosystem by issuing the ‘Science and Technology Commercialization Policy Report,’ establishing the Korean Society of Science and Technology Commercialization, publishing a society journal entitled ‘Science and Technology Convergence Studies,’ building a cooperative system with institutions such as the Gyeonggido Business & Science Accelerator, and hosting STAR Academy conferences and seminars. Recognized for such efforts, professor Rhim was awarded the of Science and ICT award last January. “The project group achieved 100% of the performance goals set forth by the government in its first year,” said Rhim who also added his hopes to “strengthen an advanced theory and hands-on training system to promote local industries and share our achievements in science and technology going forward.”

Sending best wishes for health and happiness to everyone at Dankook as we roll into the new year! 2023 is the year of the black rabbit which represents wisdom and abundance. We hope it will be a year where all of you come closer to reaching your goals. Below, we share new year’s messages from Chairman Hosung Chang of the Dankook Board and Dankook University President, Soobok Kim. [Chairman Hosung Chang of the Dankook Foundation] OUT WITH THE OLD AND IN WITH THE NEW - preparing the foundation for a new leap forward. Implementing an educational platform, leveraging new digital technology. Chairman Hosung Chang extends his deepest gratitude to the members of the Dankook community for their endeavors in overcoming the hardships of COVID-19 over the past three years. Amid the current difficulties, such as the shrinking school-age population, he asked that Dankook embrace the saying of ‘OUT WITH THE OLD AND IN WITH THE NEW’ by laying the foundation for the university to advance forward through educational programs and platforms that leverage new digital technology. [President Soobok Kim of Dankook University] Seek measures to sharpen the university’s competitive edge. Make it the year of advancing as a global university. Dankook University President Soobok Kim asked for all members of the Dankook family to unite in the spirit of ‘ONE HEART, ONE SOUL (strive together to achieve a common goal)’ and develop active measures to improve the university’s finances, enhance efficiency in its academic and administrative systems, and prepare thoroughly for domestic and international evaluations. This way, he hopes, Dankook will be able to further sharpen its competitive edge this year and strengthen DKU’s reputation as a global university.

Dankook University is expanding its investments in fostering essential talent needed for new industries in the future, such as future vehicles, semiconductors, biohealth, and hydrogen-related sectors. First, a convergent semiconductor engineering major (80 students) was newly set up at the undergraduate level to advance the semiconductor sector with a specialized curriculum that covers areas such as semiconductor devices, material, processes, circuit design, and reliability tests. The Foundry Engineering Department was introduced to the graduate program last September where students take a deep dive into the system semiconductor fabrication process. Professors from five departments, including the Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, teach inter-disciplinary courses in all aspects of semiconductor fabrication, including power, material, parts, and equipment. Starting in 2023, employees from Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor business will be brought as guest professors as part of an industry-academia collaboration effort to teach courses on how to generate added-value to the future semiconductor industry and will also engage in joint research with the university. Meanwhile, the Department of Mechanical Engineering is also stepping up to nurture professional talent called for in the development and production of future vehicles as it won a major government project this year. In addition to landing research initiatives for digital manufacturing equipment and AI-collaborative robots, the department is capable of producing over 30 graduates with masters and doctorate each year, not to mention students completing the undergraduate program to serve in the fields of ecofriendly vehicles and smart sensors. Talent development in bio-healthcare is also on track. Dankook is the lead university in the convergence and open sharing system for biohealth and came in at the top of the list of the 56 universities participating in the initiative in the first-year evaluation of the project. Eighty-five bio convergence courses were opened on various topics including ‘AI-driven genetic disease diagnosis,’ and an intensive curriculum was implemented to make the courses available for students from other universities in the consortium. More than six thousand students have already completed courses on the new shared education platform that was set up to support the university’s plans to foster 25 thousand bio specialists by 2026. In addition, investments are underway in the development of hydrogen energy, which is a leading component of a carbon-neutral society. Last year, Dankook transferred four premier material technologies related to hydrogen, which amounted to KRW 1.8 billion. The hydrogen separation and production technology that was transferred was acclaimed as an outstanding result of industry-academia collaboration that can be utilized by material-parts-equipment companies to secure global competitiveness quickly as it improves domestic separator manufacturing technology, cuts energy costs, reduces process unit costs, and strengthens durability when producing hydrogen. The LINC+ 3.0 program (phase 3 of the Leaders in INdustry-university Cooperation) has also grown into a substantial talent development program. DKU plans to invest a total KRW 35 billion by 2027 including KRW 24 billion in government grants and KRW 11 billion in educational expenditures that include start-up funds to develop talent for future industries and bring the industry-academia cooperation ecosystem to global levels under the goal of achieving ‘total and open industry-academia cooperation.’ Five industrial collaboration centers opened to nurture talent in cutting-edge fields, such as ICT and biotechnology, as well as strengthen partnerships with businesses in medical biotechnology, ICT, and material-parts-equipment. Currently, support is also being extended to connective major, convergence major, and micro major programs where 450 teaching staff and over 13 thousand students are participating across 60 academic departments.

The Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation (IACF) at Dankook’s Jukjeon campus transferred core technology needed in semiconductor processing to Mntek.Co., Ltd, a next-generation sensor company. The transferred technologies, ‘interconnection structure through substrates and its fabricating method’ and ‘packaging technology for devices with interconnection structures through substrates,’ are from professors Jae-Hyoung Park and Seung-Ki Lee (Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering). The royalty for the transfer of this Korean and U.S. patented technology is KRW 100 million. This technology etches the top of silicon substrates where semiconductor devices are fabricated to create micro patterns which are sealed with glass substrates. Afterward, the glass reflow technique is applied to fill in the microstructures. This can be used for the fabrication and packaging of semiconductor devices with multi-layer structures. When applied, it can significantly reduce semiconductor signal losses in semiconductor fabrication, as well as lower device production costs and decreases in the size of the overall structure by nearly half. “Glass reflow technology is applied to enable formation of interconnection structures of various sizes from 25 to 50㎛ and 300㎛ tall through glass substrates at the wafer level,” explained professor Park who added that it boasts stable structure and excellent electrical properties. Professor Seung-Ki Lee and Jae-Hyoung Park’s research teams study MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) technology that are applied to various fields including micro and nano devices based on semiconductor process technology, bio sensors, and wafer-level packaging.

Recently, DKU students have been spreading Dankook’s’ name by reaching great achievements in the world of sports. Ye-lim Kim (Freshman, Department of International Sports Studies) won her first ever Grand Prix event at the 2022-2023 ISU (International Skating Union) Grand Prix of Figure Skating - NHK Trophy on November 19th in Sapporo, Japan. It was the first time in 13 years that a Korean skater took the gold medal at the Grand Prix since Yuna Kim in 2009. “I tried not to get my hopes too high for the free skate program, so I am grateful to have earned this invaluable victory,” said the young Korean skater who added that “[I] will improve my shortcomings to deliver a perfect performance in the finals.” Meanwhile, on November 16th, the university football team scored a whopping four goals and took the champion position, beating Gimcheon University by 4 to 0 at the ‘2022 University Football U-League Finals’ held at the Gimcheon University field in North Gyeongsang province. It is the first victory cup for Dankook at the U-League in 13 years. Coming in first place for a second time, Dankook joins Yonsei University and Korea University as universities with the most championship titles. Along with the winning prize of KRW 15 million, Dankook University also received individual awards in seven categories. Individual awards went to Gwang-hee Kim (Most Valuable Player, Junior), Seung-ho Park (Top Scorer, Freshman), Gyeong-tae Lee (Best Defender, Junior), Hyeon-sok Choi (Best Goalkeeper, Junior), Jae-seong Lee (Best Player, Freshman), Jong-gwan Park (Best Head Coach), and Il-hwan Bae (Best Coach). Some of the football team’s other recent achievements include the National University Football Competition champion (2000) and runner-up (2009), U-League champion (2009) and runner-up (2014), Fall University Football Association Championship champion (2017) and runner-up (2013, 2019), KBSN Freshmen-Sophomore University Football Association Competition runner-up (2019), and the Korean National Sports Festival champion (2014, 2015), placing Dankook as a leading team in college football. In addition, there was also good news about Dankook alumni as Chul Hong (Daegu FC) and Sang-ho Na (FC Seoul) were placed on South Korea’s national football team roster for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

On November 2nd, Dankook University held its 75th anniversary celebration at the Nanpa Concert Hall. Officials from the Dankook University Foundation, University, and Alumni Association, as well as award recipients, including Chairman Young-joo Ham of Hana Financial Group, attended the ceremony to look back on the university’s achievements during the past year and strengthen Dankook’s commitment for the future. In his commemoration speech, Chairman Hosung Chang of the DKU Board said that “amid the many difficulties faced, [we] should collaborate on normalizing all aspects of education, research, and student counseling while investing in education to enable our students to shape Korea into a superpower.” Dankook University President Soobok Kim applauded researchers who spared no effort in their fields as he introduced some of the university’s major accomplishments, including being selected for the MRC Leading Research Center, being named number one in the Convergence and Open Sharing System (COSS) university project, launching the Dasan LINC 3.0 program, and engaging in industry-academia partnerships in the field of applied sciences. In addition, President Kim asked all members of the university to unite in marching forward to attain greater glory beyond the university’s centennial. At the ceremony, the Dankook University Foundation awarded alumni Young-joo Ham (Chairman of Hana Financial Group) the Beomeun Award, which is the most prestigious recognition given by the university. Chairman Ham started his career at Seoul Bank and went on to serve as the vice president of the bank’s Chungcheong Sales Group, the first president of KEB-Hana Bank, and vice chairman of Hana Financial Group before being appointed as chairman of the Hana Financial Group holding company last March.