32 New Students from 15 Developing Countries of Africa, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and South America
YU Park Chung Hee School of Policy and Saemaul is Korea's only International Special Graduate School named after a president, and spreads the Korean economic development model to the world
[August 27, 2012]

 First International students of Park Chung Hee School of Policy and Saemaul pose for a photo with VIP guests.

 "The African continent is suffering hunger because of the long-lasting political instability. I applied to YU in order to find a way to help them. I am confident that the Saemaul Movement and Korea's public policies and leadership will be the solution. Once I finish the course, I will become a seed and put into practice the Saemaul Movement at my village and make it successful first. It will soon become a ray of hope for the African continent, and will result in great changes based on the confidence that 'all of us can do it."

 Reshad Kemal SEID (33), a public official of Ethiopia, Africa, is now a YU student. He enrolled in the master's degree program (major in Public Policy and Leadership) at the 'YU Park Chung Hee School of Policy and Saemaul‘, which is the first in Korea, and the only program named after a former president.

 YU (president Lee, Hyo-soo) held the 2012 matriculation ceremony for the 1st International students to the Park Chung Hee School of Policy and Saemaul at the Sapphire Hall located on the 3rd floor of the Chunma Arts Center at 4:30pm on the 27th. On this day, Gyeongbuk Governor Kim, Kwan-yong, chairperson of the Saemau Center Lee, Jae-chang, Minister of the Korea Forest Service Lee, Don-koo, president of YU Lee, Hyo-soo, and a number of professors attended to congratulate the admissions of the first batch of students to this program.

 The 32 new students came from 15 countries (including 2 from Korea) such as Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Africa and South America. The backgrounds of the international students were quite astonishing. There were high-ranking public officials, executives of public corporations, politicians, professors, law-makers, local members of KOICA (Korea International Cooperation Agency), social activists, and others who already have promising jobs and high social status. However why did they come all the way to the YU Park Chung Hee School of Policy and Saemaul? Their answers are all the same. They want to give hopes and courage to the people of their nations who suffer from absolute poverty and under-development. They opted for the difficult and lonely life of studying abroad in order to achieve their dreams.

 In order to help them achieve their dreams, YU allotted 14 full-time professors from diverse majors including business administration, economics, finances, social sciences, regional studies, public welfare and administration, landscape architecture, forest resources, environmental engineering, and political science and diplomacy. All classes, research and administrative services are offered in English, and though it is a special graduate school, it offers classes all day so that students can complete their master's degree course in one year and six months. International students are offered full scholarships, dormitories, and a monthly allowance of 1 million won. This was because YU took into consideration that it would not be an easy to choice to go abroad to study from an under-developed country. For this, YU has already raised about 800 million won in scholarship funds by signing agreements with Gyeongsangbuk-do, Daegu City, and the Korea Forest Service and is looking for ways to cooperate with related institutes such as KOICA.

 Through this, YU is expected to △support the poverty eradication in developing countries, △support the national development of developing countries, △foster leaders for developing countries, △accelerate the National Advancement of Korea, △create Saemaul as an academic discipline and globalize it, and △enhance the image of both YU and the nation of Korea.

 On this, president of YU Lee, Hyo-soo, stated, "Demand for wanting to learn the successful Korean development model such as the leadership, Saemaul Movement, and five year economic development plan of President Park Chung-hee is spreading quickly around the world focusing mainly on developing countries." He added, "The founding of the 'Park Chung Hee School of Policy and Saemaul', which is an international special graduate school, will act as an intellectual support for Korea to fulfill its responsibilities towards the international society after switching from a nation that received aide to one that gives aide. It will be a way to make the Saemaul Movement into a new Hallyu brand."

 Meanwhile, the YU Park Chung Hee School of Policy and Saemaul was opened on November 1, 2011 and is operating a master's degree program offering three majors (major in Saemaul Undong Theory and Practices, major in Forest Resources and Ecological Restoration, and major in Public Policy and Leadership).

 Graduate schools named after national leaders in the world include the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government and the National University of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.