Through funding provided by the Office of Special Projects and Institutional Relations, the International Relations Team (IRT) has opened two new lounges in the International Center (W2 Building) at the start of this semester.

The first student lounge is located on the 1st floor next to the OASIS office. 64 square meters in size, it contains small-group study spaces with four chairs around each table. It also provides a refreshing view of the sky from one side of the room.

The second lounge, called the Global Lounge, is on the 2nd floor directly above Coffee Bean. Slightly larger than the other lounge at 100 square meters, there are also four public computers with widescreen monitors in addition to the lounging area. However, the newest features are the four satellite televisions that carry 45 news channels from 20 countries. The only inconvenience of the lounge is that students must bring their own headphones to listen to the TV (headphone jacks can be found at the sides of the chairs). As more people start to use this facility, the IRT is considering taking up further requests to expand their global channel selection. Connected to the Global Lounge is a classroom currently used for language courses but can also be reserved in advance online or by visiting the IRT office.

Both lounges can only be accessed using student ID cards for security reasons, but the rooms are accessible whenever students want to meet, whether it be for studying or simply fraternizing. As both are open 24/7, the IRT team leader Hyunsook Min expressed her hope that the lounges will serve as effective additions to the campus and foster the growth of the global environment at KAIST.