On September 30, TEDxKoreaUniversity has successfully completed another of its TED conferences in Korea University’s (KU) ㅠVillage. With Nam Jung Hee (’14, Business Administration) as the chief organizer, the goal of the conference was to “allow individuals to spread their ideas by connecting them with an audience and to organize a better world.” Six speakers shared diverse thoughts related to the conference’s theme, “UP.”

 

The first speaker was Yi Euy Hun, the representative of JUMP Corporation. Yi talked about achieving justice through a nondiscriminatory educational system. He mentioned about the pyramid where some students have better starting points than the rest. Hence, he stresses the need for an equal playing field for students.

 

Subsequently, Ha Won Gyu, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute’s (ETRI) head researcher, focused on the future of Korea in a digitalized world. He mentioned that before, there were two planets, which are the following: the earth, where people reside, and the internet, where people freely communicate. Although Korea was a second mover in both planets, Ha indicated how Korea will be the pioneer in the third planet that will develop artificial intelligence and other forms of technology.

 

Afterwards, Bubble Dragon, a bubble artist, talked about how everyone has future dreams and works to protect it. However, he also stated how protecting one’s dream is different from walking towards it. He therefore says that people should defeat the obstacles in life to reach their dreams.

 

Next in line was Jo In Hwan, a doctor’s course student majoring in Biomedical Engineering. His presentation was about life’s periodic table. He let the audience reflect on what their life element was, and what their driving force which makes them move towards their goals was.

 

The fifth speaker of the conference was Kim Seung-Joo, a professor of KU’s College of Information. He discussed about a society which is approaching an era of the Information of Things (IoT). According to Kim, in the future, personal information available on the internet will not be safe, which calls for the necessity of people to start taking actions.

 

Last but not the least, Ko Mi Sook, a writer who critics classics, provided a new perspective on the concept of youth. According to Ko, logos, which represents intellect and truth, along with eros, which symbolizes love and friendship, characterizes youth.