In the world of Korean higher education, many countries in Central Asia may not be as familiar a partner as traditional options such as China, Japan and the U.S. Considering, however, their potential to bring substantial mutual advantages to Korea, Korean higher-education institutions should explore all opportunities to reach out and build strategic relations with their Central Asian counterparts.

Central Asia’s five countries ― Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan ― have been becoming more important due to their envious natural resources and their geographic position connecting Asia and Europe.

To have uncomplicated access to them in the long-run, it is imperative that policymakers in this region be familiar with Korea, and more critically, better understand what they could take from Korea as well. For this to happen, Korean educational institutions could engage in academic activities and exchanges because fostering young minds from these countries in Korea would be one of the best ways to build mutual understanding, and therefore strategic partnerships in the future.

At the same time, these nations, except Kazakhstan, face tremendous economic hardships and thus restricted means to invest in higher education and create high-paying jobs, an area in which Korea is world-famous. Additionally, their increasing interest in Korean culture and language fosters a favorable environment to attract young minds to study in Korea. Therefore, there is a need, demand and opportunity in developing future collaboration through education.

A delegation from Konkuk University, now on a visit to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, is exactly doing this. The delegation, including university president Song Hee-young, is to conclude memorandums of understandings with the universities in those countries as a formal foundation for future academic collaboration.

The content of these MOUs includes, but is not limited to, exchanges of students and faculty, holding colloquiums and joint research. We expect the new partnerships to serve two purposes; first, at an individual institutional level, taking us to the next level of internalization with flexible and fresh minds, and second, at a public service level, strengthening the two countries’ shared focus on mutual improvement.

We hope that our small but significant reach-out to Central Asia will provide a ground to facilitate enhanced relations to the students and later to the policymakers in their respective home countries.

By Lee Hye-Jin, Institute for International Cooperation and Development, Konkuk University