South Korea’s state-run utility monopoly Wednesday proposed to launch a science academy in 2022 starting with 50 lecturing staff to gradually double the payroll by 2025 despite growing skepticism about the plan due to its snowballing losses.

Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) aims to open an energy-focused science university in March 2022 to groom it in the likes of prestigious tech schools Postech and KAIST.

The company said the university will sit on 400,000 sq.m of land which is the Booyoung Country Club golf course in Naju, South Jeolla Province, about 350 kilometers south of Seoul. It will have 1,000 students (incl. 400 undergraduates), 100 professors and 100 other faculty staff, running on an estimated budget of 1.6 trillion won ($1.34 billion) by 2031. Up to half of the budget could be covered by central and local governments.

It will attract 50 professors by March 2022 and increase the number to 60 by 2023, 75 by 2024 and 100 by 2025. Of the faculty seats, 75 percent will be reserved for Koreans and the rest foreign nationals. Of 25 planned full professors, 19 will be Korean and six will be foreign professors. The 15 percent occupancy by foreign professors is higher than that of the country’s top five tech and engineering colleges.

Professor salaries have been set 1.5 times higher than those of other universities specialized in science and technology: 400 million won per year for top professors, 200 million for full professors, 140 million for associate professors and 120 million for assistant professors on average. Depending on their achievements, professors even in the same rank may be paid differently. Top professors whose annual salary could exceed 400 million won include those who have achieved world-class achievements in research or those who have college leadership experience.

A person with an administrative capacity as well as knowledge in science and engineering will be appointed as the university’s first president. The president’s term is four years and may be extended.

By Lim Sung-hyun and Minu Kim

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]