KU President congratulates awardees of education vice minister citations
In recognition of their contribution to the development of university and education, the Ministry of Education grants this year’s vice minister citations.

The Ministry of Education in Korea recently selected the awardees of its vice minister citations. Korea University had three individual awardees: Professor Emeritus Jongseon Hong from the Department of Korean Language and Literature in the College of Liberal Arts, Professor Sung-han Kim from the Graduate School of International Studies, and Admission Officer Ok Kyoung Kim. The university also had the honor of receiving a citation as an organization.

In recognition of their contributions to academic development, Professor Emeritus Hong and Professor Kim were praised for their excellent achievements sponsored by the 2015 academic research-funding project of the government.

To be specific, Emeritus Professor Hong was recognized for his contribution to Korean language research as he successfully presented a guideline for research on the formation and evolution of modern spoken Korean. Unlike previous Korean language research focusing on the written language, his research built a foundation for further research on colloquial language. He did not only take theoretical approaches, but also presented practical research outcomes, showing the ideal way and direction that future research should pursue.

Professor Kim, on the other hand, was active in diplomacy and security studies including his research on inter-Korean relations, North Korean nuclear issues, and international security issues in the Northeastern Asian region, the United States’ diplomatic policies, and regional cooperation issues. In particular, he published a comprehensive bibliography on the status of NGOs and IOs for North Korea based at home and abroad. In his work, he analyzed the activities, co-operational relations, nature, and structure of the international organizations and NGOs working for North Korean issues. Based on a massive database, his research was praised for its practicality and reliability in understanding the roles of those NGOs and IOs in the process of unification.

Working for the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security and the KU Graduate School of International Studies, Professor Kim made great contributions to the nurturing of the coming generations and future academic developments. Along with his academic achievements, he actively participated in policymaking and enforcement by working as an advisory committee member for the Ministry of Defense, National Security Council, and 2nd Vice Minister of Foreign Ministry. In particular, when he was in charge of a small-sized research team sponsored by the National Research Foundation of Korea as part of the Social Science Korea project in 2013, he conducted research on how to utilize the international organizations and NGOs in order to create a foundation for the unification of the Korean peninsula. In doing so, he was praised for his excellent coordination among team members and thus, leading the team to bear a fruitful result.

KU President Jaeho Yeom had a meeting with the awardees in the Inchon Chamber at KU’s Main Hall on January 25 at 10:30 a.m. President Yeom congratulated Professor Emeritus Hong and Professor Kim on receiving the citations and expressed his deep appreciation for their steadfast work and contributions.

Senior Admission Officer Ok Kyoung Kim from the Office of Admissions was another recipient of a citation from the vice minister. She was granted a citation in recognition of her contribution to facilitate the free-semester system at middle schools. She is known for ardently supporting the system by providing human resources and physical support.

To be specific, she took charge of planning and running the ‘KU Experience Day Career Searching Camp’ to which she invited a total of 119 middle school students and their teachers. During the two-day camp, she was highly praised that she put safety, effectiveness, and efficiency before everything else.

In addition, she designed the camp to include experience-based programs so that middle school students, who have short attention spans, could focus on the programs. She also invited university students with lots of mentoring experiences to the camp in order to help the middle school students adapt to the camp smoothly. When it came to safety, she has always thought that safety should come first if a large number of students gather. In case of on-campus sites, she designated only one place to be used for the camp. By doing so, she was able to minimize students’ movement and thus, prevent any possible safety issues arising from moving from site to site. She also visited the accommodation facilities in advance and performed safety checks. Needless to say, she had counter-measures in place against possible safety-related issues.

As an example of Kim’s attention to detail, she divided the participants into several small groups and appointed mentors to each group for efficient management. Furthermore, her meticulous preparation at the program sites and accommodation facilities was to be found very effective to preventing safety accidents. Along with the camp, she supported the university in preparation of another event – a -talk fest inviting parents of students. She also participated in preparation and management of a signing ceremony for the business agreement between the university and the ministry.

The Ministry of Education granted a vice minister citation to Korea University as an organization. The university signed an agreement with the ministry to expand the spectrum of support for the free-semester system. The business agreement stipulated that the university should provide a program for students from rural areas to learn more about possible careers by having direct or indirect experiences with different types of jobs. The university was recognized for its effort to realize the dreams and potential of those students who live in rural areas and had fewer chances to have career-searching experiences. To be specific, the university invited a total of 119 middle school students from rural areas, who were subject to the free-semester system, to its two-day, career-searching camp named ‘KU Experience Day.’ During the camp, the university provided the participants with a variety of career-searching programs as well as the infrastructure of the university. The ministry highly praised the university’s effort to help young students discover their potential and design their future.

Given the fact that the camp and programs were all designed and administered by the Office of Admissions, President Yeom insisted that the office take credit for the citation. 

At a meeting with Senior Admission Officer Kim and other members of the Office of Admissions, President Yeom started a conversation with them by discussing the current trend in university admission. “The year 2016 was a great year for us, making many achievements such as a customized program for the free-semester system. I believe that everyone participating the program had a meaningful time. I want all of you to focus your energy and effort again on selecting the pioneering intellectuals for our university in coming years,” he said.