At 10:30 am on September 26, Dankook University held a ceremony at the Nanpa Concert Hall on the Jukjeon campus for the outgoing and incoming university presidents. Following DKU’s 17th president, Ho-sung Chang, Soo-bok Kim was inaugurated as the 18th university president and the first-ever Dankook alumni to be appointed head of the university.
Chairman Choong-sik Chang of the Dankook University Foundation and other university officials, as well as 500 participants representing political, educational and diplomatic circles, attended the ceremony. Dignitaries included parliamentarian Choun-sook Jung (Democratic Party), Yongin mayor Kun-ki Baek, Soongsil University President Jun-seong Hwang, Myongji University President Byong-jin You, Kongju National University President Sung-soo Won, Seoul Venture University President Ho-gun Park, Gyeongnam National University of Science and Technology President Nam-kyung Kim, Director Nam-seok Hong of the UCN President Summit and Ambassador Csoma Mozes of Hungary. The ceremony started with an introduction on the outgoing president and his achievements followed by his speech. Afterward, the new president and his achievements were introduced prior to a handover of the school banners and the incoming president’s inaugural address.
Former president Ho-sung Chang expressed gratitude to members of the university community who dedicated themselves to the advancement of Dankook and asked for “members to unite around President Soo-bok Kim and continue to make endless efforts and demonstrate challenging spirits for the further advancement of the university.” President Soo-bok Kim also said “thank you to President Ho-sung Chang who displayed outstanding leadership to prepare the university for the fourth industrial revolution,” and added that “(I) will build on the innovative minds of Dankook’s founders and its 72 years of aspiring and pioneering spirit to build a digital creative campus, establish a smart education support center, and open the ‘Dankook Renaissance’ by developing the Eurasia road for international peace.
Serving as university president for 11 years, former president Ho-sung Chang consolidated academic units based on future competitiveness, strengthened the Jukjeon campus and boosted industry and academia partnerships during his term. “New leadership and energy is needed as we face transformation triggered by the fourth industrial revolution,” said Chang when he resigned from his post last June with 8 months still remaining in his term and added that “it is necessary to open up the way for new leadership to come in and guide Dankook university and its history of 72 years.”
President Soo-bok Kim graduated from Dankook University’s Department of Korean Language and Literature where he went on to receive his masters and doctoral degrees. Afterward, he was appointed professor in 1985 and served as the Associate Vice President and Vice Provost for Academic Affairs in Cheonan, Dean of the College of Arts, and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost of Cheonan Campus. Outside the university, he served as President of the Society of Korean Literary Creative Writing, Senior Vice President of the Society of Korean Poets and is currently Chairman of the Board at the Catholic Literary Society of Korea. His term will be for four years, which started August 26, 2019.