Welcoming Address for the 2009 World Journalist Conference Attendees

 Dear distinguished journalists participating in the 2009 World Journalist Conference, it is with great pleasure that I extend my heartfelt welcome to all of you.

 Yeungnam University, a prestigious private university with a history of 62 years, as produced a countless number of outstanding graduates over the years, who have been serving as key players in the modern history of Korea.

 Currently, there are more than 180,000 graduates of Yeungnam who are playing leading roles in various fields both home and abroad, contributing to the advancement of the University and the country.

 Yeungnam University ranked 5th in terms of the number of class 1 or above high-ranking government officials produced, and ranked No. 6 in terms of the number of CEOs produced among the top 100 business firms of Korea.

 Yeungnam has produced the 3rd largest number of Congressmen among all the universities in Korea, with 18 lawmakers who graduated from Yeungnam presently in active duty.

 Yeungnam University, managing a variety of international programs with 130 universities from 19 countries all over the world, currently has about 1,000 foreign students. The size of the international faculty stands at about 100, which is the largest among all the universities in this province. 

 Yeungnam University will continue to strive to promote the in-bound and out-bound globalization, receving more students from the world and turning out more graduates to the world.

 Dear distinguished journalists!

 I would like to call your attention to this fundamental and large-scale change in the environment that we face, which is marked by No.1 "Globalization", No.2 "Transition to a Knowledge-Based Society" and No.3 "Transition to an Aging Society".

 These 3 changes in environment call for new knowledge and new research areas and require talent that are equipped with an enterprising spirit and creativity, which we call the Y-type talent. These are far different from the kind of stylized and standardized talent from the industrialized society.

 The existing paradigm of university operation, that was built based on the paradigm of the 20th century industrialized society, cannot meet such needs of the new era. It is because the 3 environmental changes call for a shift in the research paradigm, talent cultivation paradigm as well as university management paradigm.

 In the beginning of this year, Yeungnam University has established "YU Glocal Initiative" as the basis of its new vision and strategy and is striving to leap forward toward a leading university in the world of the 21st century.

 Yeungnam University will build a talent cultivation system that meets the needs of the era, leading a shift in university management paradigm that befits the 21st century.

 Especially, Yeungnam University will try to focus on 3 research areas in order to advance to reach top 10 of the world in those areas, by promoting convergence-oriented research that is capable of continuously producing new knowledge.

 Specifically, Yeungnam University will pursue to become a pioneering researcher in Green Revolution for the common prosperity of mankind. This plan of ours is called the ''GIFT'' Plan, or the ''Green Innovation For Tomorrow'' Plan and it focuses on industries such as the leading Green Energy industry in this Province, LED-IT fusion industry as well as the Green Technology industry based on IT, BT and NT.

 We also pursue to serves as a hub university that helps achieve a multicultural society committed to the wellbeing of everybody in respect for the diversity of the global village. This plan is called the ''Happy-T'' Plan, or ''Happy Together'' Plan.

 Thirdly, we have this ''H²O plan'' and it means ''Health & Happiness Oriented Plan''. This plan is targeted at creating a new ''blue ocean'' in the bio-medical area with the aim of becoming a university that helps promote the health and happiness of mankind. Futhermore, ''H²O'' is the source of all life, all energy, and matter on Earth.

 Against this backdrop, we would like to ask for your support and care for the future of Yeungnam University. Please allow me to emphasize that the University greatly appreciates this opportunity of meeting with you all.  

 I hope that you will enjoy the time you spend here, and remember it for a long time afterwards. I also hope that you will have a pleasant and worthwhile time during the rest of your stay in Korea.

 Once again, my warm, heartfelt welcome to all of you.
Thank you very much. 

                                                                                              7 July. 2009.
                                                                                   Hyo Soo Lee, PH.D.
                                                                                                 President