On April 23, KAIST and Seoul National University (SNU) signed an academic collaboration agreement to cooperate in the sharing of education, research, and academic information. About 30 staff and faculty from both universities, including KAIST President Sung Mo Kang and SNU President Yeon Cheon Oh, attended the event. With the agreement, KAIST and SNU will strengthen cooperation in the exchange of faculty and students, joint academic credit recognition, joint research and academic symposiums, and sharing of academic information.

The presidents from each university expressed their outlooks on signing the agreement. President Kang said, “By signing this agreement, I hope the two universities will increase collaboration and benefit from each other.” President Oh added, “The two universities play a key role in leading the academic and research field in Korea. We will establish a joint institute to aid the foundation of emergency management systems, as well as future strategies of Korea.”

KAIST and SNU also concurred to open programs for business management lectures for engineering students; co-host an Intellectual Property Fair to spread the research accomplishments and patents to prospective companies; promote exchange of students and co-develop video lectures; and promote exchange of staff and faculty in SNU Academy of University Administration.

Prior to signing the agreement, President Kang, as well as senior staff and faculty from KAIST, visited SNU last July to attend the KAIST-SNU Conference to discuss collaboration on student exchange and research. During the conference, the two universities discussed most of what had been outlined in the recent agreement, acknowledged the need to provide space for professors visiting the partner university, and promoted collaboration in extracurricular activities such as sports and culture events. KAIST and SNU agreed to periodically host the conference, and the promise was followed through by the signing of the collaboration agreement at KAIST.