The Korea Maritime Institute (KMI) held an opening ceremony for its new Busan office on April 17th, inviting about 200 guests including such eminent figures as Yoo Ki-june, the Minister of Ocean and Fisheries and Suh Byung-soo, the Mayor of Busan. Mr. Ryuichi Kuwajima,Chief Researcher of OCDI, also attended the ceremony.
Construction of the new office, which is located in Yeongdo-du Busan, commenced in 2013. After finishing preparatory works, 10 divisions including the marine policy division and the fisheries research division were transferred to the new building in March 2015.
The president of KMI, Mr. Kim Sung-gwi, looked backed at KMI’s efforts over the past thirty years in Seoul in the ceremony’s opening speech and noted that important research had been tirelessly carried out as part of KMI’s mission to contribute to Korea’s economic development. He expects that KMI will continue its tradition of outstanding research at the new Busan office.
The president added that “with KMI’s transfer to the Busan maritime cluster, we will expand academic research cooperation with educational institutions including Korea Maritime and Ocean University, and help make Busan a maritime silicon valley.”
KMI and OCDI concluded the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the mutual research cooperation in November 2011. Mr. Mitsuhiko Okada, president of OCDI, gave a presentation on “Port demand forecast in Japan” at the international symposium of global port demand and future prospects hosted by KMI in November 2011.
New KMI Office in Busan
Tape Cutting Ceremony