The Student Cafeteria, built during POSTECH’s first years, has been reborn after almost three decades as a multi-purpose hall that can serve as a dining hall, performing stage, studios for one-man media projects, or all at the same time.

POSTECH held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new multi-purpose hall, named Haedong-Aurum, on March 21^st 2017 with President Doh-Yeon Kim and Chairman Chung Shik Kim of Haedong Science and Culture Foundation, who contributed a significant portion of the remodeling cost, presiding.

In June 2016, Chairman Kim made a KRW 500 million endowment to POSTECH. The donation was made in support of POSTECH’s initiative to create a cultural venue to stimulate students’ creativity and innovation. The multi-purpose hall was designed around the needs of students, who wanted larger spaces to do creative activities such as producing online content and student club performance. Students also wished to have group study rooms for discussions and collaborative projects.

Haedong-Aurum is located inside Jigok Community Center near the residential area where students most frequently come and go. It is anticipated that Haedong-Aurum will be the hub of student activities and socialization in the community.

The name Haedong-Aurum, which was selected through a naming contest, has various roots. The first part of Haedong-Aurum is named after the Haedong Science and Culture Foundation, a nonprofit organization with a mission to propel the development of Korean industries and support various science and education initiatives. The other half of the name, Aurum, comes from a Latin word that stands for gold (as with the element symbol Au). It also means a light that breaks dawn or the rising sun. In Korean, on the other hand, Aurum is a communal area that brings many together. 

“I hope that Haedong-Aurum will be a venue for all POSTECHians to interconnect, embrace each other’s difference beyond personal and academic boundaries, and strive together for a brighter future,” President Doh-Yeon Kim said.

Chairman Kim of Haedong also noted that he is much delighted to see the younger generations committing themselves to academic pursuit for the betterment of the nation. Chairman Kim hopes that Haedong-Aurum supports POSTECH students’ endeavor to make best of their talents and contribute to the society.