The Republic of Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute (KORDI; President: KANG Jung-geuk) announced that the inauguration ceremony to welcome its eighth president will take place in the grand hall of its headquarters in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, on May 24, 2011 at 2:00 p.m.

With the ceremony, the incumbent KORDI President KANG will start another three-year tenure as KORDI’s eighth president. He was recently reappointed.

The ceremony will be graced by the presence of such distinguished guests as former KORDI presidents including Dr. YUM Ki-dae and Dr. BYUN Sang-kyung and President BONG Jong-hon of the KORDI Alumni Association (who is also director of the Republic of Korea Meteorological Industry Promotion Agency) composed of former KORDI members, as well as KORDI employees.

A special event is planned during the ceremony in which all KORDI employees will give KORDI Wish Cards to President KANG. Their cards will declare their hopes and commitment for the future of KORDI？its growth and development.

“Messages containing the wishes of all KORDI members will strongly encourage KORDI to become the world’s leading research institute over the next three years,” says a KORDI official who has arranged the event.

President KANG studied geology at Republic of Korea University and earned a doctorate in mineral resources fromUniversite d'Orleans of France. In 1978, he joined KORDI and served as the leader of a business team for deep seabed exploration and the leader of a team to evaluate innovations at KORDI subsequently, among other positions, before he became the seventh president of KORDI in May 2008.

During his tenure as the seventh KORDI president, the number of papers published by KORDI in Science Citation Index-covered journals jumped 74 percent and the number of patents applied for by KORDI increased 26 percent. The value of technology transfer agreements soared 1,083 percent. Thanks to these feats, KORDI has been officially recognized as an excellent government-funded research institute for three consecutive years, and the board of directors of the Republic of Korea Research Council of Fundamental Science and Technology decided to reappoint President KANG as KORDI’s eighth president on May 3.

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