PNU Merges Three Fall Events Into One

Pusan National University (PNU) will merge three major fall events — the traditional Siwol-je festival hosted by General Students’ Association (GSA) as a celebratory performance of the annual Career & Startup Fair, and the Graduate School Fair — into a single event for the first time in history.

PNU GSA and Division of Graduate School Innovation will hold an event titled “Career IN, Future ON: Career Fair for Undergraduates and Graduates,” on September 17th and 18th, 2025, at Nuknukhan-Teo (Nuk-Teo). It will be hosted by the Division of Graduate School Innovation, with support from the Division of Employment and Career Support, the Division of Startups Support, GSA, and Division of Student Affairs. This event will run from 10 am until 10 pm for two days.

During the day, career and start-up booths, as well as graduate school career booths and a research idea competition, will be held, and invited singer performances and cultural events will be prepared at night. According to the Division of Graduate School Innovation, a total of 80 booths will be operating from 10 am to 6 pm with companies, start-up-related institutions and graduate lab booths. A “Poster Street” will also be created to showcase the graduate students’ research posters for on-site audience voting. A representative from the Division of Graduate School Innovation said, “Since both the Career & Startup Fair and the Graduate School Fair share the common purpose of ‘career exploration,’ we decided to host them together.”

In the evenings, invited singers and student club performances, movie screenings, and special guest lectures will continue on the stage set up on Nuk-Teo. The festivities will kick off at 6 pm on September 17th with an open-air arts performance featuring students and clubs from the College of Arts. Later that evening, at 7 pm and on September 18th, at 8:30 pm, GSA and Division of Student Affairs will co-host a special invitational music festival, with two to four guest artists scheduled to perform. On September 18th at 6 pm, the program will include a guest lecture by science and humanities communicators, followed by a film screening. Throughout both days, from 2 pm to 8 pm, five to six food trucks will be stationed near the Nuk-Teo area, adjacent to the parking lot next to Engineering Building #11, offering a variety of refreshments to attendees.

By integrating three major events into a single festival, GSA hopes to reduce expenses while maximizing synergy. This 2025 Graduate School Fair and Career and Startup Fair will receive 177 million won in funding, along with a portion of the budget carried over from the Daedong-je festival. Back in May, the council announced a reduction in the Daedong-je budget from 300 million won to 198 million won, stating that the remaining funds would be allocated to the fall festival as reported by “Channel PNU” on May 19th, 2025.

Choi Soo-In (Dept. English Language and Literature, 20), the chairman of PNU GSA, explained “Setting up separate booths and stages for each organization would be costly. So, by hosting a joint event, we can create a more vibrant and efficient festival.” GSA Vice President Kang Jun-Seo (Dept. of Life Sciences, 22) also added, “GSA’s participation in events led by the Graduate Student Council will encourage more undergraduates to join, enriching the overall experience. A portion of the leftover Daedong-je festival budget will also be used for other GSA-led programs.”

Meanwhile the consolidation of these events has raised concerns that the Siwol-Je—already absent since 2024—may be discontinued. Traditionally hosted by GSA, the Siwol-Je commemorates the BUMA (Busan-Masan) Democratic Uprising, which began at PNU and is observed annually on October 16th. Although GSA had pledged to hold “a memorial ceremony for the BUMA uprising,” it has now decided not to proceed with the event due to the integrated festival schedule.

Reporter Kim Ju-Hong

Translated by Channel PNU