Local University Crisis Overcome by 'Sales' Strategy from President... The Specialized University He Joined Was His Alma Mater from 41 Years Ago

Kim Daesik, President of Gyeongnam Information University, "Running Nationwide to Secure Employment Orders and Development Funds"

In the Era of Crisis for Regional and Vocational Colleges, the Story of a 'Sales President' Holding the Key to Breakth

President Kim Dae-sik of Gyeongnam Information University is discussing the university's goals in his office. The menu on the desk catches the eye. Photo by Kim Yong-woo kimpro7777@

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] “Coffee or Tea?”

The first thing that catches the eye on the president’s office desk is an incongruous menu. Behind it, the portrait of the university’s founder is beaming. It is the late founder Jang Seong-man, who passed away seven years ago.

President Kim Dae-sik, who took office as the head of Gyeongnam Information University this February, has hung the founder’s portrait on the office wall because he considers him a ‘father figure’ he once served.

President Kim often says in private that he has three mentors. His mentor in education is the late founder Jang Seong-man (former Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly), his mentor in administration is former President Lee Myung-bak, and his mentor in politics is Hong Jun-pyo, Mayor of Daegu. Although he was a prominent politician who served as a key figure in both the ‘Pro-Lee’ and ‘Pro-Hong’ factions, he never wore a parliamentary badge.

“Rather than doing politics, it seems my destiny is to stay by the ‘father’s’ side (the school),” he said.

When asked about his feelings five months into his presidency, he cut straight to the point. He said he would only talk about the school. “Politics is over forever now,” he declared, having returned to the school about a year ago.

His original profession was a professor, and now he is a university president. He could also be called a poet, writer, politician, YouTuber, and collector. As the creator and host of the YouTube channel ‘Kim Dae-sik TV,’ which introduces Japanese culture and customs, he is popular among those studying Japan.

President Kim Dae-sik is naturally ‘Soyong (笑容·smiling face).’ He always greets people with a smiling face, never getting tired or bored. Because of his constant smile, during his political career, finding even one person who disliked him across both ruling and opposition parties was considered a success. That is why MB and ‘Junpyo hyung’ often sought him out.

Although he has been university president for less than five months, the amount of pledged donations he has raised for the university development fund has already surpassed 30% of the total goal he set for his four-year term. When he declared he would secure over 10 billion KRW in donations during his term?a challenging feat even for four-year universities in provincial areas?many thought it was just talk.

Large projects supporting the university have not bypassed him either. Since his appointment, funding streams exceeding 20 billion KRW have followed, including the 12 billion KRW Link 3.0 project, 4.5 billion KRW support project for specialized college innovation, and 4.5 billion KRW advanced vocational education hub project.

“When I go to sleep, I hope morning comes quickly because I have so much to do at work.” He enjoys being busy.

To overcome the crisis facing local universities, if you want to see the ‘sales president’ model that universities desire, the answer lies with him. He calls himself a sales president.

He travels around companies nationwide, striving to promote the school. When invited for special lectures, watching a 5-minute school promotional video is mandatory.

President Kim said, “I am visiting all 174 chambers of commerce across the country to do sales.” He added, “A university president should not stay only at the school but run around every corner of the world.”

He has signed MOUs with BNK Financial Group, Korea East-West Power, Korea Energy Agency, Samsung Heavy Industries, Toyoko Inn Hotel, and is promoting exchanges with Da Nang University in Vietnam and local conglomerate FPT Group. He has also partnered with Tilon, Korea’s largest cloud company.

President Kim became a Japanese language professor at this university 33 years ago in 1989. Going back further, he was a student who entered late as the class of ’81 due to family circumstances about 40 years ago. He is the first president among the 130,000 alumni produced in the university’s 57-year history.

A specialized college freshman became the alma mater’s president for the first time in 41 years. While it is common for four-year or prestigious universities to have presidents who are alumni, it is rare for a specialized college freshman to later become that college’s president.

Gyeongnam Jeonbo University Campus.

Whether because of politics or because politics called him, communication is his innate talent.

This communication king left behind an ‘invention’ called ‘TueTalk Day’ at the school. It is short for ‘Tuesday’s Talk.’ It is a time every Tuesday for interaction with faculty and staff. President Kim said, “Here, we communicate about both good and bad things. On birthdays, I send congratulatory messages and personally give coffee coupons.”

President Kim’s mobile phone nickname is also ‘Manman’ phone. It is short for ‘manhyeong manje’ meaning he has the phone numbers of 10,000 older siblings and 10,000 younger siblings stored. His phone still holds contact information for about 50,000 people with whom he is communicating.

He said that to overcome the crisis of regional universities, he plans to produce competent specialized college talents faster than four-year universities through cooperation among local governments, industries, and universities (Ji-San-Hak).

In the past three years, 665 graduates have been employed by large corporations, and this year the goal is set at 500 for the year.

He quickly moved by establishing the nation’s first cloud systems department, recruiting 30 freshmen next year, and increasing the semiconductor department’s quota from 30 to 40.

He is focusing on nurturing talent for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The highlight is ‘employment-guaranteed customized education.’ Plans are also underway to link employment with large corporations and overseas jobs.

At the end of these efforts, President Kim Dae-sik harbors an ambitious dream. After ‘Gi’ and ‘Seung,’ the next target ‘Gyeol’ is, after all, ‘solid.’

“If India has IIT, the U.S. has MIT, and Japan has TIT, then Korea has KIT (Gyeongnam Information University)!” he said with a smile, wanting to dedicate such a university to his ‘mentor father,’ the founder.

Born into a poor farming family in Yeonggwang, Jeollanam-do, he spent his youth carrying cargo at the Busan dock and studying at night before entering the specialized college. He is preparing a clever ‘copy’ letter to send a ‘former memorial’ to founder Jang Seong-man, who guided him from student to professor, politician, and university president.

During President Lee Myung-bak’s administration, Kim served as the president’s ‘envoy,’ traveling to over 100 countries and donated more than 570 souvenirs collected to the school. The ‘Kim Dae-sik Collection,’ the 11th president of Gyeongnam Information University, is scheduled to open in the second half of the year. A gallery combining exhibition and caf? will be established in the university library. “I hope current students will dream of traveling the world as they view the exhibits,” he said.

President Kim graduated from Gyeongnam Information University, earned his doctorate from Hanyang University and Kyoto Otani University in Japan, and joined Gyeongnam Information University as a professor in 1989.

He served as a member of the 17th Presidential Transition Committee, Secretary General of the National Unification Advisory Council, Vice Chairman of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission at the vice-ministerial level, and Director of the Yeouido Institute. He received the Order of Civil Merit (Red and Yellow Stripes), served as a professor and Vice President for External Cooperation at Dongseo University, and was inaugurated as the 11th president of Gyeongnam Information University on February 14.