Cho Ho-kwon, Yeongdeungpo District Mayor's Unique 'Love for Science'... 2nd Science Camp Visits Taiwan TSMC

November 8 Suwon Samsung Innovation Museum Tour Followed by November 20-23 Visit to Taiwan TSMC Headquarters and 2nd Science Camp as Part of Student Future Science Exploration Program

Choi Ho-gwon, Mayor of Yeongdeungpo District, attended the 'Education Festival' held at Yeongdeungpo Park on the afternoon of October 19, where he experienced science and technology by operating an exploration robot set up at the science booth.

Choi Ho-kwon, the mayor of Yeongdeungpo District, is a ‘science mayor’ with a special interest and affection for science.

In particular, he has received very positive evaluations from local residents by providing opportunities for local elementary, middle, and high school students to visit the National Science Museum and Samsung Electronics headquarters to spark their interest in science.

Last May, Mayor Choi signed a business agreement with the National Gwacheon Science Museum and has been operating science museum experience programs.

In the first half of last year, 600 elementary students and 800 middle school students visited the Gwacheon Science Museum; in the first half of this year, 600 students from four elementary schools and 500 students from three middle schools explored the science museum; and this summer, they visited Samsung Electronics’ Suwon Innovation Campus and JAXA in Tsukuba, Japan.

Additionally, 173 senior citizens attending ‘Neulpureum School’ visited the science museum twice in May, providing various community members with opportunities to experience the science museum.

Choi Ho-kwon, Yeongdeungpo District Mayor (right), and Dennis Hong

“If you want to know a country’s past, you visit a museum; if you want to know its future, you visit a science museum.”

This is the usual philosophy of Choi Ho-kwon, mayor of Yeongdeungpo District, and it clearly reflects the reason behind the district’s major policy goal in the 8th elected term: establishing a ‘Special Science Education District.’

We are now in an era where the level of the Fourth Industrial Revolution?AI, IoT, big data, robotics?is directly linked to a nation’s competitiveness. To win in the fierce competition of the Fourth Industrial Revolution era, it is crucial to nurture future talents equipped with advanced scientific and technological capabilities.

Mayor Choi said he felt a lot after attending the world’s largest IT electronics exhibition (CES) held in the United States this January. In particular, during the event, he visited the headquarters of OPEN AI, the global AI venture company that developed Chat GPT. Among the approximately 800 employees there, the majority are of Indian, Chinese, and American descent, with only a very small number of Koreans. He expressed his deep realization that nurturing scientific talent in Korea is an urgent and important task.

To cultivate future scientific talents who will lead the Fourth Industrial Revolution and to spread scientific culture, the district signed a business agreement with the National Gwacheon Science Museum last May. For the first time in Seoul, it operates the ‘Visiting Science Principle Experience Classroom,’ which links 80 types of scientific principle content from the Gwacheon Science Museum with school science curricula, supporting students to easily grasp scientific principles.

On the occasion of Yeongdeungpo District Residents’ Day, on September 26, a special lecture by ‘Dennis Hong,’ known as the Leonardo da Vinci of robotics, was held, providing local youth with an inspiring time about future science and technology.

In this way, Mayor Choi has prepared the second science camp in 2024, which includes a visit to the headquarters of TSMC in Taiwan, the world’s leading semiconductor technology country, to spark local youths’ interest in science and technology for future preparation.

Middle school students from Yeongdeungpo-gu are visiting the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Tsukuba Space Center and receiving explanations from officials.

From November 20 to 23, the district will run a program visiting TSMC’s Changxin Plant in Taipei, the National Museum of Natural Science in Taichung, the National Palace Museum of Taiwan, the National Museum of Marine Science and Technology, and the Yehliu Geopark.

The 30 middle school students participating in this camp are outstanding students who passed an interview screening among those recommended by their schools.

The students prepared and presented plans on what they intend to learn through their self-introduction letters and the science camp.

Choi Ho-kwon, mayor of Yeongdeungpo District, is expected to continue his passionate efforts in promoting science.