Koreas to pursue college exchange

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Koreas to pursue college exchange

South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles relations with the North, gave the green light on Tuesday for students of Seoul National University to contact students of Kim Il Sung University, the North’s most prestigious institution of higher learning, to discuss academic exchanges, the South Korean university’s students said.

The approval comes amid increasingly warming ties between the two Koreas and could pave the way for the school’s first student exchanges with a North Korean university since its foundation in 1946.

A group of students at Seoul National University formed a committee with the university’s student council to promote inter-Korean exchanges together and filed a request with the South Korean ministry on May 24.

With the ministry’s approval, the committee hopes to send a fax to Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, as early as next week to begin discussions about student exchanges. The committee plans to reveal the contents of the message during an event at the school on Friday to mark the 18th anniversary of the first summit ever between two Korean leaders in 2000.

In the message, the committee expects to propose Seoul National University students visit Kim Il Sung University to explore the possibility of various exchange programs, including joint visits of historical sites in Pyongyang by students from both universities. As many as 100 students from Seoul National University wish to participate in exchange activities with the North Korean school’s students, according to the committee.

Yonhap
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