From 1992 to 2007
Prior to Establishment: Primary Period
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“The City of Ulsan Needs a National University.”
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There were many obstacles that were overcome in order to make the dream of Ulsan citizens come true. In 1992, the presidential candidate of South Korea, Young Sam Kim made a pledge of making a national university in Ulsan. In 1994, the committee for building a national university in Ulsan was organized with the name “Hanul University” and started its activity.
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“Ulsan City, Setting up University Establishment Planning Team”
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The city of Ulsan has organized the university establishment planning team and committee and start activities of attracting by sending out establishment brochures to 702 organizations, such as universities, companies, and corporations. Despite these strenuous efforts, they did not raise the national interest, making the dream of establishing a national university sleeping away.
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Establishment of ‘Ulsan Citizen Organization of National University’
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The citizens of Ulsan gathered to form an organization for the establishment of a national university in September, 2001 and this became the official organization, named the Ulsan Citizen Organization of National University in October 2001. This organization was composed of 160 organizations with around 2000 members.
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Petition for Building a National University in Ulsan
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In March 2002, the petition aiming for a million citizens was started. However, only 9 percent of the entire population of Ulsan partook for this event. In May 2003, once again, they held a pan-citizen meeting at Dongchun Sports Center in Ulsan for signature-gathering petitions. Despite being held on weekdays, 4000 citizens participated. After a year and a half, a total of 589,000 of 106,000 Ulsan citizens signed the petition, showing the will of building a National University in Ulsan.
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Petition, Delivered to the Congress
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In 2004, there was a relay speech for establishment of a National University. Including the “Ulsan Citizen Organization of National University”, 20 organizations all over Korea partook in this event, urging the establishment of National University in Ulsan. In July of the same year, 33 members of the organization and six members of the assembly delivered the petition to the Congress.
Members of the Assembly and the Citizens of Ulsan, Promoting the Establishment of a National University in front of the Parliament Building (July 14, 2004)
Petition is delivered to the Congress (July 14, 2004)
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Organization of the Council for Establishment of a National University at the Blue House
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After there had no progress on the establishment, the city of Ulsan announced the promotion of building a national university in Ulsan on August 2005, and in September of the same year, the council at the Blue House was organized. In this council, specifics of the university were discussed. Under the following conditions, a national university could be build in Ulsan: (1) the number of applicants for entrance needed to 1500; (2) there would be benchmarking academic programs from MIT university; (3) the city of Ulsan city would provide the land and the full financial support for constructing the university.
Press conference: Promoting the Establishment of a National University (Municipal Assembly, August 17 2005)
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Announcement of Plans for the University Establishment
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With the municipal assembly’s hard work, the plans for the university establishment were finally announced on September, 2005. On the same day, the City of Ulsan signed an agreement with the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development of South Korea, regarding the University establishment.
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Selection of University Site
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The city of Ulsan organized the “Site selection committee” in 2005 and had been accepting possible campus site candidates. The central and north districts of Ulsan, Ulju, and 10 other areas in Ulsan were selected as candidates. Decisions were made on February 2006 to select the Ulju area as the final site for building the university. Tensions between provinces could have occurred, but a common goal of making a national university in Ulsan made the entire province help each other.
Launching of the “Site Selection Committee” (December 12, 2005)
The Final University Site (Ban-Yeon Area)
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Legislative Bill, Issued on the Establishment of a National University of Ulsan
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The government decided to establish a legal basis upon the transition of a national university to a corporatized university over time in order to increase the competitiveness among national universities. However, due to severe protest from the national and public universities, the city of Ulsan decided that the only answer to solve this issue was to get an exclusive legislative push. The legislation was not issued by the government, but by the member of congress, and Ulju area congressmen Kang Gil Bu leaped head on into issuance of the legislation.
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First Presidential Appointment Ceremony
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In September 2007, President Moo Je Cho was appointed as the first president of UNIST and the registration of the establishment of the university was also finished. With the support of the City of Ulsan, the first presidential inauguration of President Cho was held at UNIST in November, as well as the groundbreaking ceremony. The president revealed his intention towards making UNIST, a world leading university that was weighed alongside KAIST and POSTECH.
Presidential Appointment Ceremony, President Moo Je Cho and Groundbreaking Ceremony
UNIST Groundbreaking Ceremony
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