CNU held a 50,000 Journey Project’s Excellence Case Presentation at the College of Natural Sciences on September 12.

The 50,000 Journey Project allows students to pay only 50,000 KRW for passport issuance, while the remaining expenses for overseas trips are covered by the university. This program was introduced with the aim of providing students who have not yet had international experiences with an opportunity to broaden their horizons.

The 160 selected students freely chose their travel destinations and planned their itinerary based on the 12 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations. Japan was the most popular destination, with many students showing significant interest in the Employment and Economic Growth category.

Among them, the <Artistic Slow Travel> team, which visited Japan under the theme of “Quality Jobs and Economic Growth,” visited a local job center and conducted a written interview using a pre-prepared Japanese questionnaire and analyzed it by comparing it with the situation in Korea. The results were introduced at the “50,000 Journey Project’s Excellence Case Presentation (September 12)” and received first prize.

They found that Japan faced similar economic challenges in areas such as cost of living and employment to those in South Korea, and suggested that latter could promote economic growth by capitalizing on the K-pop tourism boom.

The team said, “When we went to Japan, which was considered a close but distant country, we learned that the difficulties in economic areas such as prices and employment were similar to ours.” Based on the interview results, they realized, “Korea is taking advantage of the K-pop craze and it would be good to promote economic growth by attracting more tourists.” 

Other teams and individuals, such as <Blue-Purple> (consisting of Park Soo-jeong and Park Ki-won from the Department of Energy Resources Engineering and Park Soo-hyun from the Department of Industrial Engineering), which visited Singapore with the theme of “Industrial Innovation Precedent for Sustainable Development Plans,” and Yang Eun-seo (Department of Japanese Language and Literature), who was under the theme of "Employment and Economic Growth, Society and Education," were awarded second-prizes.  

Students have shown considerable interest and enthusiasm for the 50,000 Journey Project, and CNU plans to expand and operate the second 50,000 Journey Project during the upcoming winter vacation.

President Jung commented, “The experiences gained through the 50,000 Journey Project, although they could be short, will provide insights and wisdom for overcoming future challenges in life. Please become the protagonist who solves the problem to achieve the world's goals for sustainability.”