Chungnam National University students donate merchandise sales proceeds to university fund

Students from the Department of Smart City Architectural Engineering at Chungnam National University donated all proceeds from the sale of locally themed merchandise at a regional festival to the university’s development fund.

The university said five students met with university president Kim Jeong-kyoum on Tuesday and donated 728,000 won ($544) to the fund.

The students — Shim Byeol, Park Ji-bin, Oh Yun-seo, Lee Yeon and Jang Seo-hee — were accompanied by their faculty advisers Kim Gyu-young and Lim Seung-cheol.

As part of the Living Lab Capstone course, the students designed and sold merchandise at a regional festival as members of a team called “Oncheon Osungi.”

Their products combined the appeal of Yuseong Hot Springs with Daejeon’s identity as a science city.

The students ran an interactive booth at the 2026 Midsummer Night’s Yuseong Music Festa, held Aug. 7-9. They showcased keycaps inspired by Yuseong Hot Springs and the local specialty Pongdang Bread, as well as merchandise featuring the university mascot, Chacha.

The university said the students designed and produced merchandise inspired by local cultural and tourism resources and engaged with festivalgoers to promote the region’s attractions.

It noted that the donation underscored the students’ commitment to giving back to the local community.

“It is meaningful that the students transformed local resources into creative content, interacted directly with festivalgoers and developed practical skills,” faculty adviser Kim said.

He added, “We hope the donation serves as an example of how university education can benefit the local community.”