Jeonbuk National University (JBNU)'s Gunsan-Saemangeum Campus has opened in the Gunsan National Industrial Complex.

JBNU completed its fourth Business Incubator on the Osikdo-dong site in Gunsan and held a historic opening ceremony for the Gunsan-Saemangeum Campus at 11:00 a.m. on June 13.

The JBNU Gunsan-Saemangeum Campus is being developed as an Industry–University Collaboration campus that incubates startups in advanced industries and provides technology support to companies located in the industrial complex.

The Business Incubator that opened that day was built after being selected in 2010 for the Small and Medium Business Administration's Startup Incubation Center Construction Support Project. JBNU plans to specialize the facility around green industries and to host renewable energy-related companies to provide stable startup support.

In addition, JBNU secured the New Technology Startup Cluster Support Project from the Small and Medium Business Administration in 2010 and has developed infrastructure—civil engineering works, electricity, communications networks, and water and sewage systems—to enable companies to settle stably.

Accordingly, the area will be developed as the 'Eco-Green Techno Valley,' attracting around ten outstanding companies to provide multifaceted support such as technology assistance and problem resolution.

In addition, last year JBNU participated in the Ministry of Knowledge Economy's 'Gunsan-Saemangeum Industry–Academia Convergence District Development Project' to establish a university campus in the Gunsan National Industrial Complex, and plans to construct a corporate research center there. Through this, it will carry out R&D to secure core source technologies in the green technology industry and provide outstanding technical support to companies.

With companies moving into the Eco-Green Techno Valley and the green industry–specialized Business Incubator, and with the construction of corporate research centers in the industry–academia convergence district, JBNU is expected to achieve three goals: nurturing talented individuals based on excellent research, transferring superior technologies to companies, and creating jobs.

It is also expected to positively affect increased production and local economic revitalization through direct and indirect population inflows resulting from company attraction.

Furthermore, because the Gunsan-Saemangeum Campus is adjacent to the Saemangeum Wind Power Cluster, the Buan Renewable Energy Theme Park, and the Saemangeum Renewable Energy Complex, it is expected to generate synergies between advanced green technology venture companies and promising small and medium-sized enterprises.

President Seo Geoseok stated, "The Gunsan-Saemangeum Campus is expected to serve not only as a research institution leading green energy technologies but also, in the long term, as an advance base for the 'JBNU Saemangeum Global Campus' that will be established after completion of internal Saemangeum development. Based on stable operation of the Gunsan-Saemangeum Campus, we plan to attract renowned foreign universities to the Saemangeum Global Campus and create another specialized campus — a global metropolitan campus — to prepare for the era of internationalization."