One of the features of the ACYPL program is that each member of the delegation spends a day as the “team leader.” I was able to pick my day earlier in the week and quickly looked to the science and technology day as the day which I wanted to serve in this capacity. The team leader is responsible for introducing the delegation to the hosts, making toasts at lunches/dinners and ensuring that everyone gets a chance to participate fully.

We had a late morning, which was good to have in order to catch up on correspondence from back home and try to have a telephone call with people in the states while they are still up. We also had to pack our bags and check out of the Seoul hotel, the Somerset Palace, and move to Daejeon City for the night and then to Yanjgu for two nights. The hotel was kind enough to let us store bags there if we chose, so I took the opportunity to leave my large bag and planned to carry everything in my carry-on.

Our first visit was to Samsung’s Exhibition Hall. Samsung is one of the Korean chaebols, or conglomerates. Samsung has an annual economy on its own which is comparable to the country of Malaysia. While I was there, I shot a quick little video for Lauren and Alex:

Samsung QuickTime Video

The Samsung exhibit also featured the newest in Samsung’s technology. It would be a safe bet to say I could live in a tiny cramped space and be content if I had half of what they had on display. But we had very little time here, so the teaser trailer for The Dark Knight was a little disappointing – I would have enjoyed the entire movie on one of their hi-def screens.

We then took an hour and a half drive to Daejeon City. There, we started with a luncheon with some local government officials before moving to Daedeok Innopolis. This was absolutely an impressive outing. The leaders of Korea decided in the 1970′s to start a science based city to focus on research and development. While there we were able to tour the Electronics Telecommunication Research Institute (ETRI), which is a leader in tech development. While there we saw simply amazing items under development. We were asked not to photograph or record any of them because they are under research development for later commercialization, but they didn’t stop us from describing some of what we saw there, including:

• A broadband delivery system which streams at 3.6 Gigabytes per second
• A broadband delivery system which uses the human body’s bio-electrical system as the network
• Real time medical data delivery through a wristwatch style device
• Advanced communications for automotive travel to display road conditions ahead and behind the car through a network of on board cameras
• Home automation that makes today’s automation seem ancient
• Robots that recognize faces, obey commands and can assist the elderly/infirm

After ETRI, we moved to the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), a university which is the home to thousands of Korea’s best students. After a discussion of academics and the unique nature of KAIST, we were given a tour, starting with an electronic car delivery system where a bus system at the University is powered through magnetic transfer of electricity from wires in the concrete to the bus, much like the bullet trains receive their power.

The Dean at KAIST shows Rep. Pat Garofalo (R-MN) the electronic power system for the university's transit system

At the conclusion of our tour, we went to check into our hotel room at the Daedeok Guest House, which is part of the Daedeok Innopolis Welfare Center, headed by President Kim Moon-Young. Mr. Kim was a fantastic host and we really enjoyed getting to know him as he travelled with us around Daejeon/Daedeok. After checking into the hotel, we went for dinner at a fantastic Italian restaurant, hosted by the President of Daedeok Innopolis, Mr. Kang Gye Doo. He suggested the lamb chops, so as a good guest, I obliged. I’m glad I did.

We had a great discussion at dinner on the future of the Korean peninsula and the relationship between our two countries as it relates to North Korea. We also were able to work in a little about the great scientific things being done in Daejeon/Daedeok Innopolis before we retired to the hotel for the evening. It would be our last evening in the hotel before staying at a traditional Korean villa in Yeongju the next evening.