Yonsei International Campus Opened Yonsei University held an official opening ceremony for the new International Campus in Songdo on March 3rd. Academic programs will be offered from this summer at the new campus, which will be run as another main campus. The dedication ceremony was held on March 3rd as a part of opening ceremony. Many prominent public figures and officials attended including Prime Minister Chung Un-chan, the Mayor of Incheon Ahn Sang-soo, the Chairman of Yonsei University Foundation Bang Woo-young and University President Kim Han-joong. The former President Kim Young-sam and the former first lady Lee Hee-ho also participated in the ceremony. In his celebratory address, University President Kim Han-joong said that "the world will come to Yonsei through our International Campus" and the campus will be "the global hub of knowledge creation". President Kim conferred plaques of gratitude to the former Yonsei University President Jung Chang-young and the City of Incheon mayor Ahn Sang-soo. The ceremony was continued with a performance by Yonsei College of Music Choir and messages of celebration from the Presidents of Keio University, MD Anderson Cancer Center and of the University of Missouri. Academic Programs to be Offered at the International Campus The first academic programs to be offered at the International Campus are 'Summer School' for international students and further education lectures for residents of Incheon. In Fall semester, pre-university course for overseas students from East Asian regions will be offered. The new College of Pharmacy, which was granted confirmation by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, will receive students from 2011, along with the establishment of the campus' international hospital. In the same year, Interdisciplinary Majors in College of Engineering (Graduate Course), College of Life Science (Graduate Course) and Pre-medical/ Pre-dentistry program will be established there. The Spatial Concept of International Campus The new campus embraces the spatial concept of Byungsan-seowon, an educational institution for Confucian scholars in Josun era. At the center of the campus will be placed the Central Library and the main square standing for the "treasure houses of knowledge." The campus will also follow the layout pattern of Gyeongbokgung. Facilities will be laid out from the main gate located at the south of campus to the north on a straight line. This layout enables the campus to possess green spaces with width of 10~20 meters as in Gyeongbokgung. Most of buildings that are being constructed in the new campus are in a shape of Hangul character 'ㅁ'. Each building has a small square in the middle that functions as a garden, with facilities located around the square. This layout resembles the layout of Byeongsan-seowon, which is composed of Ipgyodang (lecture hall), Mandaeru (auditorium), Dongjae and Seojae (dormitory). New Buildings for the New Campus Several buildings are already built for the new campus. Until May, a dormitory with the capacity of housing 2,000 students and a soccer field will be added along with UN Project Office for Sustainable Development in Asia and Pacific. Currently, the new campus occupies 143,000 square meters, which is one third of the whole site for the campus which adds up to 440,000 square meters. The construction will be completed in 2015, and the campus will hold 5,000 students, including 2,000 international students. A Global University Town Professor Kim Hong-kyu (Department of Urban Planning & Engineering), who is in charge of the master plan for the new campus, says the new campus is being made as "a space for displaying elegance of traditional Korean architecture as well as for building a reputation as a global campus." Most of the buildings in the new campus have five stories and are designed to be easily extended with three more stories. For example, the ground floors of building for lecture halls and cultural center building are not occupied by any facility, but they can be extended instantly if needed. Rooftops are being built as gardens, and there will be eco friendly systems using geothermal and solar heat to save energy. Security system will also be installed to ensure student safety. Yonsei's new campus is one of the many campuses that are being built or planned to be established in Songdo. More than 10 universities from Korea and foreign countries are planning to establish campuses in the area. There are also many international branch campuses that will soon be established in the area. Before the end of this year, branch campuses of the University of North Carolina and SUNY Stony Brook will be opened. Branch campuses of George Mason University and the University of Delaware are earmarked to be opened next year.