KAIST-POSTECH Science War, also known as the Kapo-Jeon, is the annual competition between KAIST and POSTECH which was held on September 23 and 24 this year. The festival, which has a tradition of 19 years, promotes cultural exchange between students as well as a time to experience a sense of belonging and pride in their universities. KAIST and POSTECH take turns hosting the festival each year; this year, it was held in Pohang.
Out of the 17 years on record, KAIST has been in the lead by a close difference with a total of nine victories to POSTECH, which was following up with eight victories. For the last two years, the festival could not be held as usual due to COVID-19 restrictions and had to be held online. While POSTECH had won these two Science Wars, they were not included in the record.
It is a tradition to hold a cheering celebration on the eve of the Kapo-Jeon on the campus of the away team to encourage the participation of students and spur a festive spirit even from afar, and this year carried on this tradition. The Kapo-Jeon eve was held in the Outdoor Theater (W9), where the KAIST cheerleading team ELKA, the dance club Illusion, and the band Carpe Diem performed. Free food and drinks were provided for students by Imagination Effect. Freshmen currently enrolled in the Exciting College Life course also spent the eve celebrating the festival and participating in various events.
The first day of Kapo-Jeon began with an opening ceremony at the gym where announcers from each of the two universities introduced the events. The first game was soccer, held in the stadium, which ended with the victory of KAIST by a score of 4–1. The second match of the tournament, the artificial intelligence (AI) battle, also ended with KAIST winning by 3–2. The League of Legends (LOL) match was held in the e-sports Colosseum, where many students supported the players and enjoyed drinks and food. It was a very tight match — while KAIST managed to catch up to POSTECH’s win in the first round, POSTECH eventually secured its win in the last round, ending with a score of 2–1. The Hacking competition was held independently of the other games across the two days, starting at 3 p.m. on the 23rd to 3 a.m. on the 24th. This also ended with the victory of KAIST, leading 7790–6390.
On the second day of the festival, baseball games were held in the Pohang baseball stadium. KAIST won impressively by 19–2, providing students with great entertainment. The science quiz was the sixth match of the rivalry, which also ended with the victory of KAIST by 14–10. The last game,basketball, was a very close match but ended with KAIST winning by 101–98; many students commented that this was the most fun game to watch because of the tight scores. The festival came to an end with the performance of bands and dance clubs from the two universities — Crtl-D, P-Funk, Twilight, and CarpeDiem — as well as a closing performance by Min Kyung Hoon, the vocalist of the rock band Buzz.
Overall, the two-day festival ended with an overwhelming victory of KAIST, with a total score of 6 to 1. The festival has further significance as it was able to successfully resume face-to-face after the two years of break from the pandemic. The festival will be held at KAIST’s Daejeon campus next fall. The full video of the matches can be re-watched on the POSTECH Broadcasting System (PBS) YouTube channel and the highlight videos of the games on the Voice of KAIST (VOK) YouTube channel.