University signs agreements with South Korean organizations
Participating in the signing ceremony are, from left, Havidán Rodríguez, vice provost; Heon-seok Lee, commissioner of the Incheon Free Economic Zone, and UD President Patrick Harker.
UD President Patrick Harker, left, and Heeyhon Song of the Asia Development Institute sign an agreement.
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11:39 a.m., May 13, 2009----The University of Delaware has signed memorandums of understanding with two South Korean economic development organizations - the Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) and the Asia Development Institute (ADI).

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The agreements were signed during a campus visit on May 11 by Heon-seok Lee, commissioner of IFEZ; Heeyhon Song, chairman and chief executive officer of ADI; Seung Joo Lee, director of the Division of Knowledge-Based Industry; and Wonjong Cho, project manager in education affairs at IFEZ.

They call for the parties to promote educational opportunity, workforce training, invention, innovation and exchange of information and faculty, as well as collaborative research projects and scientific conferences.

The agreements follow an October 2008 trip by a UD delegation to South Korea to explore academic partnerships with the Korean government and private industries. The visit to South Korea was sponsored and organized by ADI, which is coordinating with the city of Incheon and the central government in a $202 billion development and expansion of the IFEZ.

IFEZ plans to create an international academic institution that will provide a unique setting for students from around the world to get a first rate global education. IFEZ will be a critical project for the social and economic development of South Korea with important ramifications throughout Asia.

"We are delighted to formalize the relationships between the University of Delaware and the Incheon Free Economic Zone and the Asia Development Institute,” said Havidán Rodríguez, UD vice provost for academic affairs and international programs. “These strategic partnerships will allow us to continue to expand UD's global reach and impact. They will also allow us to enhance and expand our academic, research and other scholarly initiatives in other regions of the world, and will provide the University community with new and exciting opportunities to engage in transnational and interdisciplinary collaborations and programmatic initiatives with IFEZ and other potential partners in South Korea."

Article by Neil Thomas
Photos by Evan Krape

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