Nationwide 'Fisheries and Marine U-Belt' Launched by Six National Universities... Pukyong National University: "Joint Ocean Research"

Building a Research Network from the East Sea to Jeju


"Joint Response to Government-Supported Projects"

A nationwide fisheries and ocean cooperation body connecting the East Sea, West Sea, South Sea, and Jeju has been launched.

On July 28, Pukyong National University (President Bae Sanghoon) announced that it has formed the 'Fisheries and Marine U-Belt Council' together with Kangwon National University (Gangneung campus), Kunsan National University, Mokpo National University, Chonnam National University (Yeosu campus), and Jeju National University. The universities plan to engage in joint research, talent training, and collaborative applications for government-supported projects.

Pukyong National University held the inaugural ceremony for the council and the first working-level meeting over two days, starting from July 23, at the Homers Hotel in Busan, where about 40 representatives from the six national universities nationwide discussed joint agendas.

This council is a follow-up project to the 'Establishment of a Specialized Ultra-Wide Area Marine Governance' agreement signed in May. It was formed to address marine issues such as high water temperatures, subtropicalization, the decline of fishing villages, and the expansion of offshore wind power—challenges that are difficult for individual universities or regions to resolve alone.

The participating universities discussed six major cooperative projects based on their respective research capabilities. The core project is the 'Coastal Marine Environment Observation Belt and Digital Twin across the Korean Peninsula,' connecting the East Sea, West Sea, South Sea, and Jeju. The plan is to link their respective research vessels and marine observation infrastructure to build the nation's first longitudinal coastal data set.

Other suggested cooperative projects include the operation of joint capstone design programs in the offshore wind sector to nurture specialized professionals, as well as strategies for establishing a blue food value chain connecting seed production, aquaculture, processing, and commercialization.

The council intends to finalize the joint projects after further gathering opinions and a second working-level meeting, then launch pilot projects at each university. Based on these results, the council will jointly respond to government-supported projects from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Education, and others.

As the inaugural leading university, Pukyong National University will leverage its 100,000-pyeong Open-UIC field campus, Smart Aquaculture Big Data Center, Blue Food contract department, and marine finance cluster—industrial-academic cooperation infrastructure—to serve as a research hub for the southern coastal region and support the commercialization of technologies.

An official from Pukyong National University's anchor project commented, "By connecting the strengths of the six universities, we can further enhance our capabilities in education and research. We aim to develop this into a collaborative model that offers hands-on field training nationwide for students and provides local businesses with opportunities for industry-academia cooperation."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.