Th is is GIST

This is GIST

Interview by Jeong Jiyeon and Melline Galani Photographs by Kim Hillel Yunkyoung

Th e Gwangju Institute of Science of Technology (GIST) not only has a proud history in Gwangju but also has an exceptionally beautiful campus, undoubtedly contributing to its present and future creativeness in science and technology. Th e Gwangju News is happy to present this interview with the president of GIST, Kim Ki Seon. — Ed

Gwangju News (GN): Th ank you for taking the time to do this interview for the Gwangju News, President Kim. First, please introduce yourself, and tell us about your background and about GIST. Also, how long have you been president of GIST? Kim Ki Seon: Nice to meet you and welcome to the most beautiful park in Gwangju. I am Kim Ki Seon, president of GIST (Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology). Originally, I worked as an engineer, making 2G cell phones in Houston, U.S.A. However, 27 years ago, in 1994, when the high-tech district was established and GIST was also established, about ten professors from home and abroad came to Gwangju to nurture young students, and I was one of them.

GIST was the second science and technology institute established in Korea aft er KAIST. GIST has tried everything new to fulfi ll its mission of establishing an innovative model for science and engineering institutions. As an innovative model, it started with a graduate school centered on master’s degree and doctorate programs, considering “convergence technology” and “globalization.” Th e offi cial language on our campus is English, the global language of science and technology. All courses are taught in 100% English and have been successfully conducted so far. By creating this globalized environment, foreign students can adapt well to campus life without any diffi culties. GIST has recently been selected as the world’s fourth-highest institution in the QS World University Evaluation for “citations per faculty” in pursuit of research cooperation and competition. As a result of this forward-looking eff ort, GIST’s Global Convergence Education model is being introduced as an innovative success story.

GN: How is the international community represented at GIST? What percentage of students at GIST are international students? What do international students

bring to the GIST community? Kim Ki Seon: Currently, foreign students and teachers account for about ten percent of GIST members. Starting in the fall of 2020, this rate will gradually increase as new undergraduate admissions and exchange student programs begin at our university.

Basically, the official language is English at GIST, which is oriented toward a global campus. All Koreans and foreigners receive full scholarships without discrimination, and all of them live in dormitories or apartments. Personal distress counseling and career counseling are conducted through the in-house support center, and the foreign assistance department and language center are also in charge of helping with campus life and daily life in Korea.

Recently, international students have participated as members of the general student council and the SelfGoverning Committee of the Local Government to actively represent the foreigners’ positions and to resolve conflicts with Korean students. Through Open Tuesday, which is open to everyone and promotes free communication every Tuesday, various programs are set up and operated to improve the welfare of foreign members and resolve distress.

GN: What distinguishes a GIST education from other institutions of higher learning in Korea, and in particular, Gwangju? What specialized expertise can a potential student (foreign or domestic) expect to acquire at GIST that he or she could not obtain anywhere else? Kim Ki Seon: GIST has the advantage of being a minority elite. When it was established, we benchmarked Caltech’s (California Institute of Technology) minority education in the United States – a world-class institution where the ratio of professors to students is one to ten. In addition, the selection of foreign undergraduate students at GIST for the first time this year is expected to make us a center for global education in both name and reality.

GIST is pursuing transformation into a liberal arts college and is pursuing this in a variety of ways. To cultivate basic literacy, all new students are admitted to the Faculty of Basic Education. Since the Institute of Science and Technology is an institution that fosters professional manpower in the fields of science and engineering, you may think that we would focus on science and engineering subjects, but GIST has designated courses in not only science and engineering but also in various liberal arts fields, such as the humanities, social sciences, language studies, and the arts. In their first year, students build their foundations in various fields, and starting with their second year, they can freely select majors in several relevant departments through freely declaring majors without competition with other students.

In particular, the “Infinite Challenge Project” is the most outstanding program compared with other universities. This project aims to cultivate active creative convergence talent by allowing students to experience failures through self-directed “individualized activities” and developing problem-solving skills through them. This project also deals with a variety of topics, from application creation and game development to movie production and theater composition, and performance. Regardless of the field – humanities, society, culture, science, or academics – various activities are supported in amounts of up to 2.5 million won per team, and comparative activities are highly recommended.

We are devoting support to infinite challenges to discover the potential in our students and to promote the cultivation of literacy as a convergent talent with respect, passion, and pride. In addition to becoming a liberal arts college, GIST has been successfully conducting various educational experiments. GIST aims to efficiently manage undergraduate schools, with undergraduate students in their third and fourth years participating as researchers in graduate laboratories through active exchange between graduate schools and universities. The G-SURF program, which benchmarks Caltech’s SURF, is highly responsive to students because they can conduct actual research while receiving supervised mentoring at their desired graduate and university laboratories. There are also active exchanges with universities abroad. Second-year students who meet certain criteria can take summer semesters at UC Berkeley and Boston University in the U.S., and at Cambridge University in the U.K.

GN: Especially for universities that deal with cuttingedge science and technology, corporate partnerships play an integral role. Would you speak about the importance of GIST’s corporate relations and how GIST develops relationships with industry? Kim Ki Seon: GIST has been operating a CEO program called the GIST Technical Management Academy, or GTMBA for short, for the past ten years to promote partnerships with local companies and to provide a

comprehensive CEO training program for entrepreneurs. About 400 alumni of GTMBA are actively engaged in various fields of business, politics, and communications, making great contributions to the community and continuing their exchanges with GIST. To maintain this exchange relationship, GIST provides various opportunities for communication with companies.

In addition, we hold a Breakfast Forum every month during the semester to promote R&D, technology transfer, and commercialization of technologies. Through the Breakfast Forum, we are trying to promote the establishment of a network between CEOs in Gwangju and Jeollanam-do and professors and researchers at GIST, and we are expanding opportunities to introduce GIST’s research technology for mutual benefit with small and medium-sized businesses. Although the Breakfast Forum has not been held this year due to COVID-19, we have been creating other opportunities where local CEOs can get some technical advice from GIST researchers, and the researchers can also get information on the development of technologies in local industries. Furthermore, we conduct various activities for mutual development, including having regular meetings with local entrepreneurs to discuss diverse ways to develop the industrial ecosystem in the local community.

GN: We heard that GIST’s excellent research results are recognized worldwide. Please tell us what the strategy is. Kim Ki Seon: GIST has ranked first in Korea for 13 consecutive years and fourth in the world in the Citations per Faculty Index. In the QS World University Evaluation, citations per faculty is an important indicator of both the quantity and quality of research capabilities.The driving force behind GIST’s growth into a global research-oriented educational institution in a relatively short period of time is the result of attracting excellent researchers and creating an optimal research environment for them to concentrate on their research. GIST has been selected as the “best college for start-ups” for the past three years in a row. We help students identify their business potential and apply it to starting a business through the Start-up Idea Competition. GIST has been operating a professional training program focused on technology start-ups, and there is a start-ups minor in the master’s degree program that can lead students to actually creating their own startups. Another outstanding program that is a distinctive part of our curriculum sends students interested in starting a business to Israel’s Institute of Technology, Technion, to help them learn about start-ups at a global and practical level.

GIST has put its priority on global research under the GIST philosophy of emphasizing global convergence, and it has created a unique atmosphere in which to conduct joint research with global researchers who can be both competitors and partners, and this has naturally lead to our successful achievements in terms of the projects-perprofessor index.

GN: In recent years, several high-profile industries have moved to Naju’s “Innovation City.” Has this affected the way GIST delivers its programs? Kim Ki Seon: Innovation City was created in 2002–2003 during the Roh Moo-hyun administration when the Innovation City Act to distribute government agencies concentrated in the metropolitan areas to the provinces was revised. At that time, we were able to choose the areas of expertise we wanted to concentrate on by region, and Gwangju chose information and communication, energy, and agricultural. Since then, the Korea Internet and Security Agency for the information and communication

sector, the Korea Contents Agency, and the Korea Electric Power Corporation for the energy sector have moved to Naju one after another. GIST will work with these institutions to create a blueprint of how to look forward to the next ten years to advance science and technology. Also, in the future, an AI cluster will be created in the high-tech district here, and I think it will be able to lead the economic revitalization of our region by attracting companies for research here in the Honam area.

GN: How does GIST maintain a positive relationship with the Gwangju community? Are there days when the community is welcome to visit the campus? Kim Ki Seon: Gwangju to the World is a glocal campaign. I believe a good school is a school that is loved by the local community, and communication plays an important role here. Communication begins from within the school to the outside of it and to its community. As suggested by our slogan, We Are GIST, “we” refers to all citizens of Gwangju, including GIST members. Unfortunately, due to the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic, this year we have not been able to hold any events in which Gwangju citizens are able to participate.

However, last year we held the first GIST Science and Culture Week. During the week, we revealed to Gwangju citizens a media facade made by the Institute of Culture and Technology and screened a robot movie called Big Hero on the wall of the GIST library.

In addition, we has tried to facilitate communications with the residents of Gwangju and lower their entry barriers to science by sharing aspects of various fields of science. Especially, we invited Professor Gérard Mourou, the winner of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics, to give a lecture to the public and hold the High-Technology Golden Bell Competition. As we believe that science increases its value through communication with the public and that pride in scientists and engineers grows together with the public, we will invite parents of elementary, middle, and high school students to the GIST Promotion Event, once the COVID-19 situation ends.

GN: What plans is GIST making or considering to broaden its reach and expand its range of fields of study for the future? Kim Ki Seon: GIST is focused on nurturing PhDs in science and engineering through post-doctoral training to foster future academic innovation. Based on its global research achievements and experience in conducting convergence education programs, GIST is planning to develop the Young Scientist Programs (YSP).

YSP will help young scientists to become PhD-level professionals whose role is essential in promoting science and engineering, and contributing to national development led by science and technology. GIST has become a success story in Gwangju, and now it plans to spread the GIST YSP model at home and abroad.

As a leading science institute for internationalization and convergence education models, GIST has already contributed to the enhancement of the quality of internationalized convergence education in many universities. Furthermore, with the support of the government, GIST is promoting the Global AI-X Education Innovation Model in cooperation with international research and innovation institutions as a part of the GIST YSP and expects to create successful innovation that can spread to many science and engineering universities.

Korea-Consult Bringing Continents Together Interview with Anton Scholz

Interview by Melline Galani

Inter-Korean Summit (2018).

Anton Scholz is not only a successful businessman but also a model of how somebody who dreams big can find a home in one of the most homogenous countries in the world. For more than 15 years, he has been working as a consultant, project manager, and translator for many major as well as medium- and smaller-sized companies that do business in or with Korea. Mr. Scholz founded Korea-Consult in 2001, starting with interpretation and consulting services to become one of the most esteemed and preferred companies in supporting international media, events, and projects across Korea. The following is Gwangju News’ recent interview with him. — Ed.

Gwangju News (GN): Thank you for taking the time to do this interview. First, please introduce yourself and tell us about your academic background. Also, please tell us about your first encounters with South Korea and Gwangju. Anton Scholz: My name is Anton Scholz from Hamburg, Germany, and I first came to South Korea in 1994 as a student because I was practicing martial arts – taekwondo. I was very interested in oriental philosophy and the background of martial arts, not only the physical part but also the metaphysical part of it. Therefore, when I was introduced to a Zen monk in Germany by my taekwondo master and then invited by the former to come to Korea to practice Zen with him here, I accepted his invitation. At that time, I intended to stay for one year, but I ended up staying quite a bit longer. I have been in Asia, especially in Korea, since the mid-1990s, so by now I have about 20 years of living experience here. I work as a freelance journalist, and I also run my own company, Korea-Consult, where we do international projects mostly between Germany and Korea, but also with many other countries like the U.S., France, Italy, and England.

▲ Taekwondo sparring with friends (1994).

GN: What made you choose to stay and do business here? Could you also tell us how you got started? Anton Scholz: When I was studying at Hamburg University, where I graduated with a master’s degree in Korean and Japanese Studies, I met a Korean professor who later had a position here at Chosun University. She called to tell me about an open position in Gwangju as an assistant professor and asked if I was interested in it. Since I did not have a job offer at the time and the proposal sounded interesting, I thought, why not? I had only lived in Seoul until then, so I took the job intending to come down to Gwangju for a year or two, but I ended up holding that teaching position for seven or eight years. Eventually, I quit in order to move on to a more creative line of work – my company.

GN: What are the main projects or services that KoreaConsult is involved in, and most recently, how has your company been affected by COVID-19? Anton Scholz: We work for foreign companies that have no permanent representation here (no local office or staff) and come only for short-term projects either because they have business partners here or because they have events, such as sporting events or trade fairs, or some kind of joint venture or cooperation here. They need local support, people who can speak Korean and help them get stuff done and, often, because traveling between Europe and Korea, or America and Korea, takes time. It is very helpful and saves them a lot of time and money if somebody, on their behalf, is looking after their interests. This is the kind of activity that Korea-Consult does.

COVID-19 has heavily affected our company because we deal with international business, and this market has been greatly curtailed. Currently, there are no foreigners coming to Korea, so all the business we do with delegations is down to zero. Many companies are rethinking their global strategies because they have been

▲ PyeongChang Olympics with the ARD TV team (2018).

▲ Scholz during his stay at Shinwon Temple.

hit by the coronavirus and now are trying to reduce costs. I am also heavily impacted by COVID-19, so I am just praying that it will be over sooner rather than later.

GN: Given the loss of business these days, are there any other projects that you are involved in besides those of Korea-Consult? Anton Scholz: I also work as a freelance journalist and worked for ARD German Television for eleven years as a local producer in Korea, in addition to other media outlets.

I am also a correspondent for Weltreporter, which is the largest German network of freelance correspondents. This is my main side profession, though at Korea-Consult, we also produce film footage and similar stuff for media companies. Not only do we support these companies’ projects, but at times when it might be difficult to come to Korea, we also do the shooting part on their behalf. Moreover, we do commercial recordings for other companies, too. That has been quite interesting recently.

GN: Was it difficult to start a business here in Korea? What were the main obstacles you encountered? Anton Scholz: It is not necessarily difficult to start a business, but it is difficult to be successful with it. The main obstacle is that Korea is still a very closed society in many ways. They are still not used to foreigners living and working here as equivalents to Koreans. We are only seen mostly as visitors who come here for a short time. There are quite a few obstacles when you want to set up your own company. For example, if you need bank loans, it is very complicated as a foreigner to get these. As a consequence, it is more difficult to start a company if you need financial backing. I set up my company only by selling my time and knowledge, and I did not need any major investment initially. I only started to hire personnel when I had so much work that I was not able to do it all by myself. Overall, the main obstacle is that Korean society has not fully accepted foreigners as part of society yet.

GN: What is the most memorable project you have worked on over the years? Anton Scholz: The 2002 World Cup was a life-changing event for me because at that time it was my first big project for German television. It was incredible because I was able to support both Korea and Japan at the same time, and today I am still in contact with some of the people I met back then, after 18 years. It showed me that the skillset I have is valuable for big companies that come here and need support. When we got the PyeongChang

During an interview with the German ambassador to Korea. ▲ Scholz at KBS’s Journalism Talk Show J (2018).

Winter Olympic Games in 2018, I was a bit hopeful that it would provide a similar feeling, but sadly, even though I enjoyed my work for the Olympics, it provided nowhere near the same feeling I had back in 2002. Nowadays, everything has become a bit too bureaucratic. There are different people in charge now and everything is more controlled back in Germany.

GN: What are the main challenges in working with foreign and Korean companies at the same time? Anton Scholz: For me, there is no challenge in working with both Korean and foreign companies at the same time. People are people no matter what country they are from, meaning the basic needs and problems are similar. I still think that Korean companies are not completely used to foreigners helping them in their own country. If Korea wants to become a more international society, it needs to accept that business projects that are multinational will be run in an international way and that the mindsets of foreign and Korean people are quite different, especially when it comes to business.

Therefore, if you do not have a person who is familiar with both Korean and the foreign language in use, as well as with ways of doing business in both cultures, then there is always a problem with communication. Actually, I have just gotten a new contract for intercultural coaching and support for a major company doing business with a development team in Germany. On account of communication difficulties with the Korean entity, they have hired me to help them. This is a good example of communication issues: For Koreans, it is sometimes a bit difficult to accept that they need support.

GN: How do you see the future of private businesses in the new world we live in? Do you think you will be aff ected a lot? Any advice for other local entrepreneurs? Anton Scholz: At this stage, it is very diffi cult to say how things will turn out because we are not through the pandemic yet. But I do think that the pre-2020 world and post-2020 world will look diff erent; I just do not know how big the change will be. Businesses will be aff ected, for sure. Some will thrive (delivery and online services, the medical fi eld, etc.).

For foreign entrepreneurs in this time, I would say every crisis is also a chance. While a lot of companies might go bankrupt if they are in the wrong area, maybe some other companies, if they have good ideas, can see profi ts go through the roof with their start-ups in a very short period. Th ey should just keep in mind that the pandemic will be over at some point, and if they are totally specialized in something that is only useful during the pandemic, they could be out of business as fast as they skyrocketed while the pandemic was ongoing.

Overall, even if is a diffi cult time, it is also an interesting and challenging one. I have always enjoyed a good challenge, and I hope that my company will come out of this stronger than it was before because we have ventured into new areas with a wider footprint than we had before coming into this crisis.

I think the same is true for South Korea also, because it has received a lot of international praise for handling the situation, despite once being the second most heavily infected country. It has now become a model case for many countries for how to eff ectively contain the virus. I hope that even though the Korean economy is heavily impacted at present, ultimately, we will emerge from this crisis stronger than before.

GN: Th ank you, Mr. Scholz, for taking the time to provide us with this interesting and informative interview. We wish you and your business much future success.

Photographs courtesy ofAnton Scholz.

The Interviewer

Melline Galani is a Romanian enthusiast, born and raised in the capital city of Bucharest, who is currently living in Gwangju. She likes new challenges, learning interesting things, and is incurably optimistic. Instagram: @melligalanis

Support the GIC! Be a Member!

Th e Gwangju International Center (GIC) is a nonprofi t organization established in 1999 to promote cultural understanding and to build a better community among Koreans and international residents. By being a member, you can help support our mission and make things happen! Join us today and receive exciting benefi ts! • One-year free subscription and delivery of the

Gwangju News magazine. • Free use of the GIC library. • Free interpretation and counseling services from the GIC. • Discounts on programs and events held by the

GIC. • Up-to-date information on GIC events through our email newsletter.

Annual Membership Fee

General: 40,000 won; Student: 20,000 won; Group: 20,000 won (min. 10 persons). Inquiry: member@gic.or.kr / 062-226-2733

Send the Gwangju News to your loved ones back home!

Th e Gwangju News has been serving the community since 2001 by delivering news and information to the international communities of Gwangju. Send the Gwangju News to your family and friends back home, and let them know about Gwangju!

Annual Subcription Rates

• Asia and Australia: 40,000 won (US $40) • Europe: 50,000 won (US $50) • America, Africa: 60,000 won (US $60)

Payment can be made through bank transfer, cash, or Paypal.

Bank Transfer: Kwangju Bank ( 사)광주국제교류센터: 134-107-000999 Paypal: gic@gic.or.kr Inquiry: gwangjunews@gic.or.kr or 062-226-2733