Ministry of Interior and Safety clears investment review; 46.9 billion won earmarked for 2031 opening
South Chungcheong Province's long-sought project to establish a Chungnam National University campus in Naepocheon has cleared a key administrative hurdle, giving the initiative fresh momentum.
The provincial government announced Thursday that the project had passed the Ministry of Interior and Safety's central investment review, which recognized its feasibility.
The province had previously secured an amendment to the "Decree on the Establishment of National Schools" to provide a legal basis for the campus, and received two successive approvals from the Ministry of Education's university establishment review committee — one for the campus establishment plan in November last year and another for the opening plan in March.
The campus will be built on University Site 1 in the Naepocheon new town in Hongbuk-eup, Hongseong-gun, with a total project cost of 46.9 billion won ($34 million) — comprising 23.5 billion won in national funds and 23.4 billion won in provincial funds — targeting a 2031 opening.
The site will cover 15,685 square meters, with a total floor area of 11,084 square meters, in a building with one below-ground floor and five above-ground floors. The campus is planned to operate with an enrollment capacity of 252 students and will focus on education and research tailored to the region's strategic industries, including green biotech and mobility.
Three new undergraduate departments will be established: animal disease control, animal biohealth and digital agricultural mobility. At the graduate level, the general graduate school will offer ▷digital agricultural mobility ▷and future automotive mobility programs, while the professional graduate school will offer ▷a digital agricultural mobility program to train specialized talent.
In addition, three research centers will be established on campus — covering animal clinical support and pharmaceuticals, future automotive mobility and digital agricultural mobility — to serve as a hub for an innovation ecosystem linking education, research and industry.
The province expects the campus to strengthen the educational infrastructure of the Naepocheon new town, which has lacked higher education institutions since its designation as an innovation city in 2020, and to serve as a catalyst for its transformation into an innovation hub integrating industry, academia and research.
"We will continue to work closely with Chungnam National University to establish the Naepocheon campus as quickly as possible," said Choi Pil-hwan, the province's director of higher education policy. "We will build an education foundation for the region's strategic industries centered on the Naepocheon new town, nurture convergence talent, and strengthen South Chungcheong's industrial competitiveness."
kwonhl@heraldcorp.com
