The long-cherished project of South Chungcheong Province to build a Naepo campus for Chungnam National University has moved onto the main track.
The province announced on the 9th that the project had passed the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's central investment review after being recognized for its feasibility.
The province had previously led a revision of the National School Establishment Ordinance to create the legal basis for establishing the Naepo campus. It secured approval for the Naepo campus establishment plan from the Ministry of Education's University Establishment and Reorganization Review Committee last November, followed by approval of the opening plan this March.
Following deliberation by the province's New City Construction Committee for Relocation of the Provincial Government, the project has gained momentum as it completed major administrative procedures with the passing of this central investment review.
The Naepo campus will be built on the University 1 site in the Naepo New City, located in Singyeong-ri, Hongbuk-eup, Hongseong County. A total project cost of 46.9 billion won will be invested, including 23.5 billion won in state funds and 23.4 billion won in provincial funds, with the goal of opening in 2031.
The campus will be built on a 15,685-square-meter site with one basement level and five above-ground floors, and a total floor area of 11,084 square meters.
The Naepo campus will operate with an authorized enrollment of 252 students, and it plans to pursue education and research specialized in regional strategic industries such as green bio and mobility.
At the undergraduate level, three new departments will be established: the Department of Animal Quarantine, the Department of Animal Bio-Health, and the Department of Digital Agriculture and Mobility. For graduate studies, the general graduate school will house a Department of Digital Agriculture and Mobility and a Department of Future Automobile Mobility, while the specialized graduate school will house a Department of Digital Agriculture and Mobility, cultivating skilled talent.
In addition, three research centers will be built on the campus—covering animal clinical support and pharmaceuticals, future automobile mobility, and digital agriculture and mobility—to nurture a hub for an innovation ecosystem that integrates government, industry, academia, and research by linking education, research, and industry.
"The construction of the Naepo campus will strengthen the educational function of the Naepo New City, which had suffered from the absence of a higher education institution since its designation as an innovation city in 2020, and will serve as a catalyst for leaping forward into an innovation city where government, industry, academia, and research are concentrated," said Choi Pil-hwan, the province's higher education policy officer.
