Recently, the Namwon Regional Industry Development Project Group (Director Oh Seung-won; hereafter Namwon RIS Project Group), which was selected for the government-supported regional industry development program, held an opening ceremony on May 3 at 10:30 a.m. in the audiovisual room of the main building of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and announced the official start of the project.

At the opening ceremony, President Seo Geoseok, Namwon Mayor Lee Hwan-ju, Director Oh Seung-won of the Namwon RIS Project Group, and other lacquerware industry stakeholders attended. The event included an introduction to the project group, a progress report, a tape-cutting, and a plaque-unveiling ceremony.

Following its selection for the government-supported program, the Namwon RIS Project Group secured a total of KRW 3 billion—KRW 1.8 billion in national funding and KRW 600 million in local funding, plus matching investments—and will work with Namwon City to promote the region's traditional lacquerware industry.

The project will be operated as an industry–university–research–government collaboration, with participation from Namwon Mokgi Business Cooperative, the Lacquer Culture Center, Mokun Craft, the Agricultural Industry Strategy Institute, and the Namwon Crafts Association. It will implement initiatives such as networking, workforce training, product development, marketing, and business support to foster Namwon's lacquerware industry.

Through these efforts, the project group is expected to make a significant contribution to regional economic revitalization by creating jobs and increasing tax revenue in Namwon, as well as by developing place-based marketing and lacquerware tourism programs that leverage local tourism resources such as the Chunhyang Festival and the Jirisan Dulle-gil, and by revitalizing lacquerware culture.

Director Oh Seung-won (Professor, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences) said, “The Namwon RIS project is led by our university and involves Namwon City as well as local lacquerware-related research institutes and companies. We will strive to foster Namwon's traditional lacquerware industry and contribute to job creation and regional economic revitalization.”

Meanwhile, the university has been contributing greatly to regional economic revitalization by focusing on the development of regional industries in areas such as Buan, Jangsu, Gochang, and Sunchang.