Dear Members of the University Alliance of the Silk Road,

I am saddened by the spread of COVID-19 virus across the globe, and I understand that you and your teams will now be under considerable pressure coping with this unprecedented situation. At this difficult time, I am writing, on behalf of all at Pusan Nation University, to extend our best wishes to you and your colleagues for the weeks and maybe months ahead facing and fighting against the pandemic.

These are challenging times for all of us in the international education field and it has become apparent that only with international solidarity could we overcome this global public health emergency together. As you may know, Korea has taken many urgent and aggressive actions to control the pandemic, and the situation in Korea is being put under more effective containment. To deal with this issue, PNU is also doing the best to keep a safe research and education environment and to prevent the spread of disease infection by organizing an emergency PNU TF since January. Therefore headquarter of university had made following decisions of group event cancellation and academic schedule changes to prevent virus infection, based on the supporting measures which the ministry of education in Korea officially announced to prevent the infection of disease and the result of the conference which vice-presidents from ten major national universities had.

The safety and health of all students and staff remain as our high concern, although Pusan National University has no case of the virus as of now. To prevent the spread of the COVID-19, PNU has declared "High Level" on the virus inside the campus:

‧ Set up isolated facilities, such as outdoor tents, for suspected student/staff

‧ Disinfect all buildings on campus every day

‧ Check body temperature before entering the building

‧ Make online lecture system (Online class may be extended by April 25th)

In addition, we keep run emergency measures of 14 days of quarantine, health checkups and many others for foreign students who will enter PNU dormitories for this new semester by emptying a whole separate building. Regarding students living off-campus, we keep contacting with them everyday to check their health situation, as well as occasional zoom meeting providing counseling and unscheduled home visits by offering daily necessities.

Furthermore, the headquarter is running a total inspection on all members of PNU regarding their recent visit abroad. For outbound exchange students, we are running an emergency measure to help them come back to Korea and continue their study in PNU.

Dawn is breaking and we are seeing light coming through. I have the confidence that the pandemic will be under control soon and a more normal situation can be restored in the near future. Let’s overcome this difficulty with wisdom and all the minds put together with careful consideration of each other.

All the best,

Ho-Hwan Chun

President

Pusan National University