Gachon University announced on the 14th that it successfully held the mixed startup camp '2025 GCSC', involving university students from Korea and Japan, at the Global Campus AI building from the 8th to the 13th.
The camp, co-hosted by Gachon University of Korea and Hitotsubashi University of Japan and sponsored by Coconewon and Shinhan Bank, aimed to create a community of young entrepreneurs to address common social issues in East Asia.
A total of 74 university students and 30 startup ecosystem stakeholders participated in the camp, proposing innovative solutions through various programs focused on population issues such as aging, low birth rates, and regional extinction, as well as climate issues like global warming, environmental destruction, and food crises.
The camp began with a congratulatory speech from Jeong-wook Im, Director of the Startup Venture Innovation Bureau of the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises and Startups, followed by lectures from experts including Professor Yong-tae Cho from Seoul National University, Director Sang-hyeop Lee from the National Green Technology Institute, Deputy Director Hee-jung Cho from the Possibility Institute, and Director Jae-jak Nam from the Korea Precision Agriculture Institute.
Special lectures were also given by Professor Lisa Son from Columbia University in the United States and Professor Naohiro Shichijo from Hitotsubashi University in Japan, along with a presentation by Kyung-sun Jeong, Executive Director at Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance.
In particular, the organizers noted that various experts who participated as mentors, including former D.CAMP CEO Young-deok Kim, Cyworld founder Dong-hyun Lee, Baedal Minjok co-founder Il-han Park, and former CLO of Microsoft Japan Hee-sun Kang, provided practical advice to the students, helping them develop creative ideas.
Jang Dae-ik, dean of the Startup College at Gachon University and the head of the organizing committee, stated, 'The 2025 GCSC is a very unique opportunity for mixed teams of university students from Korea and Japan to demonstrate entrepreneurship and collaborative leadership in addressing common social issues,' adding that 'we will actively support them to grow as future leaders of the East Asian entrepreneurial community.'
Gachon Cocone School is a startup college newly established at Gachon University in 2022 to nurture warm and smart entrepreneurs. It operates an immersive startup semester program (minor in entrepreneurship) and multiple and single major startup undergraduate programs with an original entrepreneurial education curriculum led by renowned faculty. Over the past two and a half years, a total of 140 students have graduated from the startup semester program, with 90 entering the undergraduate program. Currently, a total of 10 corporations have been established.