KEPCO to Set up Tech University

Power monopoly KEPCO wants to establish a college of engineering in Naju, South Jeolla Province where it has its headquarters.

A committee tasked with picking the location met Monday at the government complex in Seoul and chose a golf course in the town.

The college will sit on 1.2-million sq.m of land there and open in 2022. Tentatively named KEPCO Tech, it will recruit 400 undergraduate and 600 graduate students, with the government paying for tuition and dormitory accommodation.

The state utility is offering an annual salary of more than W1 billion to the university's future president and W400 million to professors (US$1=W1,120).

It realizes a pledge President Moon Jae-in made during his election campaign to create an energy-centered university in South Jeolla Province.

Gwangju and other, bigger cities in the province vied to attract the new university, and the selection of KEPCO's home turf is raising some eyebrows since the utility is struggling financially due to the Moon administration's phaseout of nuclear power.