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Busan Ramps Up Glocal University Drive with Innovation Strategy Briefings by Kyungsung University and BUFS

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that on the morning of July 30 at 09:40 (Kyungsung University) and 10:40 (Busan University of Foreign Studies), it will host the "Glocal University Vision and Innovation Strategy Briefing" at the Convention Hall of Busan City Hotel, aimed at the final designation of both universities as Glocal Universities.

This briefing, presided over by the Mayor, will be attended by the presidents of Kyungsung University and BUFS, industry stakeholders, and related institutions. It has been organized to review and discuss the vision and strategic projects ahead of the final evaluation scheduled for August.

In 2025, three universities in the Busan region—Korea Maritime and Ocean University, Kyungsung University, and BUFS—were preliminarily designated. Following a session with Korea Maritime and Ocean University on July 25, the city will submit its final implementation plans for Kyungsung and BUFS on August 11 after these briefings.

Through these sessions, the city plans to engage in in-depth discussions on strategies for mutual growth between the region and universities, focusing on enhancing the feasibility of Busan’s growth through each university’s area of specialization. MOUs will also be signed with both universities to establish a collaborative implementation system and comprehensive cooperation.

Kyungsung University’s vision is to become a "K-Culture Global Innovation Leading University." It will pursue 15 strategic projects across three major domains: the development of a MEGA (Media/Movie, Entertainment, Gala/MICE, Arts) ultra-immersive campus and the integration of industry-academia initiatives to promote Korea’s cultural strength from Busan.
➊ A MEGA Campus will be built to transform classroom-centered education into an ultra-immersive convergence learning environment.
➋ The university will operate specialized MEGA production facilities and modular labs to foster resident professionals and ensure sustainability through revenue generation.
➌ The university will cultivate the K-Culture industry centered in Busan, promote global expansion through Glocal Alliances, and secure global content IP (intellectual property).

BUFS envisions becoming a "Global Innovation University Connecting the Region and the World through 50+ Languages and Data." It will promote 10 strategic projects across three core domains, including the establishment of an AI-based hyper-regional and global education hub, the development of a multilingual data ecosystem, and support for local companies’ internationalization.
➊ BUFS will standardize its foreign language education system, build an AI agent-based learning platform, and develop an education model integrating language, industry, and data to establish a hyperconnected global education ecosystem.
➋ It will accumulate language, cultural, and industrial data based on over 50 foreign languages and create a multilingual data center infrastructure open to the region. Through the training of convergence professionals in AI and languages, a multilingual data utilization ecosystem will be built.
➌ BUFS will develop multilingual solutions tailored to local industries, apply them to businesses, and support startups and global expansion through an international network.

Busan Metropolitan City plans to provide full administrative and financial support to ensure all three preliminarily designated universities in the region are officially selected as Glocal Universities.

To encourage local talent to stay and work in the region, the city will foster specialized industrial complexes, expand special regulatory zones, attract companies, research institutes, and innovation agencies, and implement comprehensive measures to enhance youth residential, welfare, and cultural conditions.

As this is the final year for Glocal University designation, the city has aimed for the highest number of designations possible and has actively supported the universities from the innovation planning stage since last year. As a result, three universities in Busan have received preliminary designation.

The city has formed a joint task force with the designated universities, industry, and local innovation organizations, and has drafted strategies to nurture innovative talent in advanced strategic industries and support local innovative companies through new technology.

The Glocal University initiative aims to drive co-development between local communities and universities by strengthening partnerships with local industries. From 2023 to this year, the Ministry of Education plans to designate 30 non-metropolitan universities as Glocal Universities, supporting them with a total of KRW 100 billion over five years.

In May this year, after evaluating innovation proposals from universities, the Ministry of Education preliminarily designated 18 institutions nationwide, including three from Busan: Korea Maritime and Ocean University–Mokpo National Maritime University (jointly), Kyungsung University, and BUFS.

These preliminarily designated universities must submit detailed implementation plans by August 11. Following evaluations by the Ministry of Education, about 10 universities are expected to receive final designation in September.

Mayor Park Heong-joon remarked, “Glocal Universities will generate synergies with existing institutions, serve as hubs for attracting talent that will lead Busan’s innovation, and act as future growth engines. We will actively foster globally competitive Glocal Universities that can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with top universities worldwide, and, through exemplary cases of joint growth between universities and the region, we will work with local institutions and businesses to help Busan rise as a global hub city.”

He added, “If both Kyungsung University and BUFS are finally designated as Glocal Universities this September, they will grow into specialized global anchor institutions in their respective fields of strength, serving as catalysts for Busan’s leap into a leading global hub.”