Delegates from Seoul National University (SNU) went to Manhattan on March 24-25, 2008 to solidify research relationships in the agricultural sciences with Kansas State University (KSU).  The specific purpose of the visit was to familiarize themselves with  KSU's Biosecurity Research Institute (BRI) as a model for the planned establishment of a new SNU biocontainment facility on its new agricultural biotechnology campus.  The 12-member delegation was headed by Dr. Eun Woo Park, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences of SNU, and was made up mostly of engineers who will design the university's biocontainment laboratories.

The Biosecurity Research Institute of KSU is the only BSL-3 biocontainment research and training facility in the United States that can house high-consequence pathogen research on food animals, edible crops, and food processing under one roof.  The BRI is a good benchmark for the planning and designing of SNU's project.

The dean of KSU's College of Agriculture, Dr. Fred Cholick, said that its partnership with SNU is significant. "Seoul National University is the leading educational institution in its country.  They are the M.I.T. of South Korea," Cholick said.  "The scientific and cultural exchange offered by both universities will benefit agricultural science for generations to come."

Cholick and Park also signed a formal memorandum of agreement that would strengthen research partnerships and student exchange opportunities between KSU's College of Agriculture and SNU's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. (Source: http://www.k-state.edu/media/newsreleases/april08/seoulbri41508.html, accessed on 18 July 2008).