N.C. State may run campus in S. Korea

NCSU to seek OK for feasibility study

RALEIGH -- The South Korean government is offering N.C. State University $1 million to study the feasibility of building a campus at a city-size economic development park near the port city of Incheon. On Thursday, university officials are expected to ask the UNC Board of Governors for permission to accept.

NCSU has international programs in a host of countries -- including one that has a rented building in Prague -- but this would be NCSU's first overseas campus, said a university spokesman. The Korean campus eventually could accommodate about 3,000 students, according to a news release.

The campus would be built in a new park called the Incheon Free Economic Zone, which NCSU's proposal to the board of governors describes as a $200 billion next-generation version of Research Triangle Park.

The feasibility study would include developing a business plan so that the new campus wouldn't need any financial support from North Carolina. The South Korean government would pay at least $1 million annually for five years for planning and startup costs and would build the campus, including laboratories, research facilities and housing for students and faculty.

South Korea has become a leader in technology, and university officials think the country is a good fit for tech-oriented NCSU and would provide a strong base of operations in Asia. The country has had one of the world's most vigorous economies in recent years, and North Carolina -- which has an economic development office in Seoul -- sells more than $400 million a year in goods and services there, according to NCSU's proposal.

The study is expected to take a year. It would be some time before the first buildings could go up, but students from the university could be taking classes in South Korea as soon as this summer. One of the earliest steps would be building a biotechnology research laboratory for continuing and expanding current programs.

The idea of a new campus began more than a year ago. It's not clear how the recent global economic downturn would affect the project. South Korea just notched its first annual trade deficit in 11 years.