By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
Founded in May 1949, Kyung Hee University in Seoul marked its 58th anniversary this year. For humans, the age 58 may be the start of preparation for their golden years, spending what they have made and hesitating to take on any great challenges in their lives.
Meanwhile, the 58-year-old university is planning to take steps this year toward its goal of being a global top university by 2010.
On Oct. 18, the university will hold a milestone event to unveil its largest ever development plans for its Seoul campus.
The plan dubbed ``Kyung Hee Campus Master Plan'' was devised with the goals of dismantling barriers among diverse disciplines and pursuing convergent knowledge, as well as putting the faltering dignity of academia back on the right track, and eventually making Kyung Hee University a world class university.
The school authorities plan to pour as much as 400 billion won ($436 million) into upgrading the Seoul campus, the largest development project in Korean university history.
In the first step, the school will build five new buildings on 323,891 square meters from October 2008.
It will construct Oriental Medicine and Nursing Science colleges to secure enough room for lectures, research and support facilities.
Kyung Hee Cyber University, a guesthouse and an industry-university cooperation center will also be built on the campus allowing students, researchers and young entrepreneurs to easily pursue and achieve what they aim for.
The university also has a plan to construct an indoor gymnasium, underground parking lots, and other welfare-related facilities on the campus with the hopes of providing students, faculty members and researchers with a more convenient and relaxing school environment.
In the second phase, the university will build three more college buildings _ residence halls for students from overseas and a student union center.