2026 New Year's Address

Dear Yonsei Family,

The Year of the Fire Horse (丙午年) has begun. As we welcome the New Year of 2026, I extend my deep gratitude to everyone who loves and supports Yonsei. May God's grace and peace overflow in your homes and in your work.

140 Years of Yonsei: A History Written in Achievements

This past year, we successfully concluded commemorative events marking our 140th anniversary, to reflect on Yonsei's history and imagine together the hundred years to come. These occasions celebrated all the ways the spirit and values we have safeguarded cross 140 years have borne fruit in today's achievements.

Last year, the entire Yonsei community rallied as one under "Empowering Yonsei," to make it creative and successful. "Empowering Yonsei" carries our promise to amplify the capabilities, autonomy, and responsibility of each community member—students, faculty, staff, alumni, and all those connected to Yonsei locally and around the world. This goes beyond simply raising the university's standing; it's our commitment to ensuring that Yonsei's intellectual and cultural resources create meaningful impact across society.

These values and practices have resulted in substantial advancements in research and education. This past year, Yonsei secured 600 billion won in research funding focused on fields critical to national strategy — artificial intelligence, biotechnology, batteries, and displays — thereby strengthening our leadership in strategic research for the nation. The launch of the Quantum Cluster and the Institute for AI and Social Innovation, partnership with NVIDIA, securing the Max Planck-Yonsei IBS Center, and winning the NRL 2.0 (National Research Lab) exemplify how interdisciplinary research is a core growth strategy. These sustained efforts placed Yonsei University at a historic 50th place in the '2026 QS World University Rankings,' the first for a Korean private university, confirming Yonsei's standing as a world class research institution.

 

Yonsei's progress reaches well beyond the natural sciences, engineering, and medical/life sciences. We have reached impressive milestones: Social Policy & Administration now ranks in the global Top 6, and six additional subjects— Theology, Divinity & Religious Studies; Politics & International Studies; Sociology; Sports-related Subjects; Library & Information Management; and Linguistics —have broken into the Top 30. The Lee Yoon-Jae Institute for Contemporary Culture and Arts, established last year, marks a significant turning point in strengthening Yonsei's humanities and arts research. Through Yonsei Nobel Week, the creation of the Nobel Lounge, and forums with Nobel Prize recipients, we are transforming the humanities and arts into spaces of international dialogue. As alumna Han Kang reminds us, the “free spirit and singular sensory experiences” that flourish at Yonsei give form to an individual's literary voice and nurture the cultural character of an entire society. This spirit of freedom and creative scholarship provides essential groundwork for our university to serve as a wellspring of contemporary culture and arts both now and in the future.

This past year, Yonsei has continued its global advancement under the vision of "Yonsei, Connecting the World." We maintain exchange agreements with 739 institutions in 80 countries worldwide, and each year about 10,000 talented international students advance their studies at Yonsei. We have also deepened strategic collaborations with premier research institutions such as the University of Cambridge, Stanford University, the University of Helsinki, and Japan's RIKEN. These partnerships are creating a platform that goes beyond research achievements to support global governance and serve the public interest.

"Empowering Yonsei, Walking Together": Building Tomorrow, Together

Yonsei stands at a threshold. Our proud 140-year legacy now calls us to reflect deeply on what defines Yonsei's character in opening the future. The university we envision fulfills its social obligations through the research and educational foundations we have built across generations, and actively advances sustainable progress for humanity. Under the banner "Empowering Yonsei, Walking Together," we move forward toward a future we open side by side. Yonsei University seeks not merely accelerated growth, but the expansion of prosperity's horizons —creating pathways through which more people can engage with broader and deeper opportunities in education and intellectual life.

Dear Yonsei Family

This past Christmas, beside the Underwood statue, I gazed at the softly luminous Christmas tree and contemplated anew its significance. I encountered these words: "All the world gathers toward one point, united in faith toward God, and the tree’s peak points clearly heavenward." They lingered in my heart, remaining there still. As we stand at the dawn of a new year, I am drawn once more to consider the road Yonsei must travel, and the responsibility and calling that falls to me as president along that way.

2026 is a year of transformation as we prepare what comes next in Yonsei's identity. Built on trust and cooperation, Yonsei is committed to fulfilling its role as a university that takes responsibility for humanity's tomorrow. In 2026, Yonsei will commit all its resources to building a firm foundation for our next major leap—joining the ranks of the world's top 30 universities. We will deepen our involvement in the globe's most distinguished research consortia and draw world-leading scholars and researchers, while refining the policies and conditions that allow them to dedicate themselves wholly to research and teaching. Across every program, we will build systematic capacity in AI understanding and application to prepare for the age of artificial intelligence, cultivating faculty, staff, and students as agents of change who will lead their fields into the future. As we advance, we will reinforce the financial and institutional pillars that enable every Yonsei community member to embrace their identity as a "Yonseian" with pride, ensuring that our university's growth becomes the collective achievement of us all.

Under our vision "Empowering Yonsei, Walking Together," we now take another bold step forward. Beyond the divisions of campuses and schools, generations and positions, we must share responsibility and face the future as one, united under the Yonsei name. As president, I don't want to lead from the front—I want to walk beside you, as your equal. I believe Yonsei moves forward through the judgment and choices each of you make. I see the president's role as providing clear direction to support those decisions, taking responsibility first when tough choices must be made, and protecting the university so you can concentrate on the work that matters most. I commit to fulfilling this role faithfully.

As we enter 2026, I will work to ensure that Yonsei's journey honors our past, embraces our present, and charts an ever-clearer course toward our future. May your lives overflow with words of hope, kindness, and warmth, and may our neighbors find deep happiness and lasting peace. Wishing you abundant blessings in the new year.

January 5, 2026

Dong-Sup Yoon

President of Yonsei University