Aberdeen University pulls plans for South Korea campus amid oil slump

The University of Aberdeen has dropped plans to open a campus in South Korea as a downturn in the oil and gas market dented its business case for the venture.

The campus, which was meant to offer offshore-related courses for students in the country, was first mooted in 2015 and was planned to open in September 2016.

However, in 2017 the university was forced to open talks amid reports that local government in Hadong may take legal action as the campus failed to materialise.

The downturn in the industry had reduced demand for offshore engineering degrees, and Aberdeen said it would start focusing on other areas including renewable energy and decommissioning.

However, it has now been forced to abandon the plans entirely.

“We had hoped to open a campus in South Korea offering courses in offshore-related disciplines,” a spokesperson said.

“Despite many efforts to adapt to the oil and gas downturn and change the focus of the campus towards programmes more relevant to new market conditions, such as degrees in decommissioning and renewable energy engineering, unfortunately we have not been able to go ahead.”

Many UK institutions, including the Universities of Liverpool and Nottingham, have Asian campuses.