Catholic University's efforts to revitalize the DMZ

Foreign students become aware of how significant peace and co-existence is from Catholic University’s efforts to revitalize the DMZ

Catholic University has been taking colorful initiatives to revitalize the 'DMZ (Demilitarized Zone)' as a place of peace and life. With a mission of presenting not just competent but also ethical and trustworthy leaders with genuine concern for humanity, Catholic university has been a one of the few and the most notable South Korean school which has shown ongoing interest to this area. Such a move especially helps foreign students realize the importance of co-existence and life in this era of chaos and conflict.

Catholic University introduced a DMZ course on its curriculum last year. Named 'DMZ Peace-Ecology', this unique program focuses on subjects such as environment, ecology and history of the DMZ. Started with curiosity at first, students soon mull over the past and the present and the future of the DMZ.

In addition, Catholic University has been arranging DMZ camps on a regular basis from last year. These camps deliver unusual and meaningful memories to students as they can feel the area by heart through special lectures and hands on experience such as a site tour. For students from overseas, camps particularly serve a rare chance to reflect peace and co-existence deep in their mind. Erin Marie Koch from Alverno College in America who joined the last year's summer camp confessed: "My idea of Korea was a country with the state-of-the-art technology. However tunnels in the DMZ gave me a mixed feeling of how sorrowful it is to remain a divided nation for more than half a century."

Depicted as the most fortified barrier in the world since the end of the Korean War in 1953, DMZ is a 4km-wide and 250km-long buffer zone between South and North Korea.

SKKU boasts of Asia's oldest university

SKKU boasts of Asia's oldest university with over 600-year-long history

Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) was founded in 1398 as the highest national educational institute in the early years of the Chosun Dynasty in South Korea. As the oldest university in Asia, it has fostered leaders of the Korean society for more than 600 years. '修己治人,' pronounced as 'Su-Gi-Chi-In,' SKKU's main ideology, teaches that SKKU students sincerely strive to perfect themselves to contribute to the society.

Old Sungkyunkwan was established over 600 years ago by royal decree to promote the scholarship in Confucianism. As a nation's highest educational institution, old Sungkyunkwan went through vicissitudes with the country it had served. Though a long history alone cannot guarantee the excellence of an institution, the rich culture, which exudes from a profound tradition, is surely a unique and valuable asset of the school.

It would be misleading, however, to view the school merely in the context of its pre-modern history. SKKU also takes pride in the school's innovative spirit. As a result of the never-ending efforts to place natural sciences on an equal footing with its strong foundation in humanities, SKKU now operates two campuses: the Humanities and Social Sciences Campus and the Natural Sciences Campus. 

Relying upon a highly successful partnership with Samsung, a Korea-based leading global IT giant, which has generously funded several core initiatives, the school has been alleged to be rapidly developing and prospering since 1996. Mr. Kim Junyoung, President of SKKU stressed: "Under the catch-phrase 'Unique Origin Unique Future,' SKKU continuously pursues to integrate its foundation philosophy with the modern technology with a vision of cultivating global talents who will lead the 21st century."

ChungAng professor becomes a listee on the world's directories

A professor at ChungAng University becomes a listee on all three of the world's directories of biographical information of great achievers

Professor Jung Young-Bok of ChungAng University accomplished the feat of becoming listed on all three of the world's directories containing short biographies of the most noteworthy men and women. He was included in the Top 100 Health Professionals 2010 by the International Biographical Center last year. Further, he was recently selected to become listed on Marquis Who's Who published by News Communications of the US and the Great Minds of the 21st Century published by the American Biographical Institute.

Professor Jung attributed his happiness to his wife. He stated: "From the bottom of my heart, I feel sorry and thankful to my wife at the same time. Thanks to her, I could remain in a university and make various achievements."

Professor Jung, a renowned authority in knee joint and cruciate ligament treatment, is specifically known for successful surgical treatment of the posterior cruciate ligament. He is also an ardent researcher, holding a cruciate ligament related symposium for more than ten years so far. What's more, he is acclaimed for highly complex surgery assisted by arthroscopy and the computer navigation system including artificial joint replacement.

Professor Jung, who has filled many important posts in The Korean Orthopedic Association, the Korea Knee Society; and the Korean Arthroscopy Society; is currently serving for the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at ChungAng University Hospital, an Affiliate of ChungAng University. He is now the head of the Knee Center, one of ChungAng University Hospital's special centers. He also teaches students at the Medical Department of ChungAng University.

KAIST professor receives 'Korea Engineering Award'

A KAIST professor receives the 'Korea Engineering Award'

KAIST Professor Kang Suk-Joong of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering has received the 'Korea Engineering Award' from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the Korea Research Foundation. The award is given to those who have accomplished world-class research and results. The ceremony for the 'Korea Engineering Award' was held at the Seoul Press Center Press Club on the 22nd of December, 2010.

Professor Kang has potentially redirected the direction of research in the field of the microstructure of materials by elucidating the fundamental principles behind how the microstructure of polycrystalline materials evolves. He applied the results of his findings in the manufacture of new materials and has made significant contributions to the Korean materials engineering industry. Professor Kang, known as a ‘quiet scientist’, stated: “I just conducted basic research with my students. I owe this big award to them.”

As a renowned authority in materials engineering field, Professor Kang has published more than 200 papers on top-tier international journals ever since he started his academic career at KAIST in 1980. As a result, he was appointed as Distinguished Professor of KAIST in March 2010 in recognition of his research accomplishments. Actually behind his marvelous achievement, there was always KAIST. The school provided environment where Professor Kang could only devote himself to his research in the basic science field.

The 'Korea Engineering Award' was established back in 1994. A total of 24 recipients have been recognized through this award in various fields such as electronics, mechanics, chemistry and construction so far.

POSTECH professor's research group develops breakthrough method

A POSTECH professor’s research group develops a breakthrough method for extracting membrane proteins

A research group including Professor Kim Ki-Moon of the Department of Chemistry, Lee Don-Wook (Ph.D. candidate), Professor Ryu Sung-Ho of the Division of Molecular and Life Science at POSTECH and NOVACELL Technology, a Bio-Venture, has succeeded in separating cell membrane proteins from a cell using a 'cucurbituril', a pumpkin-shaped coreless compound. The result was published in the latest online edition of Nature Chemistry.

The study finds that using a cucurbituril has many advantages over the commonly used avidin-biotin pair system in extracting plasma membrane proteins for disease analysis. The new method developed by the research group at POSTECH uses a cucurbituril-ferrocene pair system to selectively isolate plasma membrane proteins from their cells. It is shown to be more efficient in capturing membrane proteins with a much lower possibility of potential contamination.

Professor Kim stated: "This research makes the first case proving that a pumpkin-shaped coreless compound can be used not only for the basic biological research but also for various areas such as disease treatment and diagnosis". In particular, this breakthrough method is expected to change the paradigm in biotechnology field in that it can not only analyze disease but also cure patients without any side effects.

As is the often the case with major scientific achievements, the research team had to go through numerous trials and errors. However, nothing could beat them who even returned weekend and holidays. Professor Kim stated: "We will continue to advance the research to be applied to different fields and to make joint efforts with biological section to develop new medicines."