University of Utah Asia Campus alumni gathered for the 2022 Alumni Banquet at the Conrad Hotel in Yeouido, Seoul, on Dec. 1. After a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the seventh University of Utah Korean Alumni Association event was designed to “strengthen exchange and solidarity, and achieve friendship and harmony,” according to organizers. 

Hosting the U.S. National Parks-themed dinner was special guest Chambo, a popular content creator with over 500,000 TikTok followers and about 300,000 YouTube subscribers. His bright personality and humor filled the room of more than 200 alumni, students, staff and faculty members in attendance. 

“Through the alumni network, we will continue to celebrate the amazing growth and change of the two campuses in Korea and the United States. We hope that exchanges will help each other as members of the united University of Utah family,” remarked Gregory Cash Hill, chief administrative officer of the University of Utah Asia Campus. 

The University of Utah Korean Alumni Association was founded in the mid-1970s by the chairman of Kyungbang Limited, Kim Gak-Jung, and currently includes over 2,000 University of Utah alumni and associates in South Korea. The organization hosts events like the 2022 Alumni Banquet to allow University of Utah faculty, staff, students and alumni to foster lifelong connections through networking and opportunities. 

“With the inauguration ceremony of the fourth President Yong-Kiel Sung (material science, ‘78), a distinguished professor at Dongguk University, we successfully revitalized the University of Utah Korean Alumni Association with many prominent alumni. I hope our notable Korean alumni will present us with an excellent opportunity to build a foundation of support to be a successful foreign university in Korea,” said James Park, U Asia Campus director of external relations and alumni relations.