KAIST

Good afternoon, everyone!

It is indeed my great pleasure to meet you this afternoon on the special occasion of the KAIST Global Lounge Opening Ceremony. I would like to welcome all of you attending this opening ceremony and thank you for joining us.

In particular, I would like to thank all the student community representatives and international community members who are participating.

We had a grand ceremony for the KAIST Vision 2031 toward becoming a “Global Value – Creative Leading University” in this new building in March. While celebrating this beautiful building along with our distinguished guests, I felt a very important space was missing in this building. I thought we need a better environment for both the international and Korean communities so that they can interact more actively and understand each other better.

Thanks to the collaborative efforts and hard work of the staff members from the Information Service for Knowledge and Culture, the International Office, and the Facilities Management Office, we are pleased to open the Global Lounge today. Let’s give them a big hand for their hard work and congratulate them on a very nice job.

Students, faculty and staff members of KAIST.

Without a doubt, the globalization of KAIST is my most urgent mission and priority for realizing the Vision 2031 and becoming a university that can create global value. I would like to stress my key agendas for making KAIST more globalized once again here.

First, I want to make our campus a more welcoming environment for the international community. I would like to create a campus where the entire international community can study, research, and enjoy their lives without any difficulties while at KAIST. Your pursuit for excellence in academics and research matters so much for us, and your wellbeing is also very important for us. We care about you because we are all part of the KAIST family.

Next is diversity and inclusiveness. Diversity is a big asset of KAIST. Creativity comes from diversity, and diversity enriches and strengthens our community. We are working to make the campus more inclusive so that all of our community members feel valued regardless of ethnicity, faith, gender, and age.

I believe that the brilliance of the 1,022 global talents coming from 89 countries have enriched KAIST to help improve its global reputation. I look forward to our international population growing further and helping us create global value together.

I hope this Global Lounge will serve as a multi-functional space for expanding the cultural awareness of every member of the KAIST community. When you get tired from the hard work you put into your classes, this space will comfort and refresh you. Make many good friends and have spirited discussions about your future with them here.

Caring comes from interactions, and you can better embrace challenges and generate creative ideas when you have active interactions with others in this Global Lounge.

Finally, I do hope this Global Lounge is a triggering place for the whole KAIST campus globalized in the near future.

Let me close my speech here wishing you all future success.

Thank you very much.

November 8, 2018