Additional Support of 3 Million Won for Low-Income Families
The Ministry of Education (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Lee Ju-ho) and the Korea Student Aid Foundation will begin recruiting universities to participate in the newly launched "Korea-Japan University Student Exchange" program starting from the 27th.
The "Korea-Japan University Student Exchange" is a newly established program this year aimed at revitalizing exchanges between the future generations of Korea and Japan and enhancing the global competencies of domestic university students. In January, the Ministry of Education called for proposals to carry out the program, and the Korea Student Aid Foundation was selected.
The "Korea-Japan University Student Exchange" program was inspired by the "Korea-US University Student Exchange (WEST: Work, English Study, Travel)." The Korea-US University Student Exchange has been a long-standing program providing outstanding domestic university students with opportunities for overseas study in the United States for over 15 years, having started following an agreement between the two countries' leaders at the Korea-US summit in August 2008.
Both programs share the purpose of providing domestic university students with opportunities for overseas field learning to strengthen their global competencies.
The Korea-Japan University Student Exchange program will recruit participating universities, evaluate and select them, and then the selected universities will select participating students.
Eligible participants are university students enrolled in domestic universities who hold Korean nationality and have no disqualifications for overseas travel. The total number of selected students will be around 50, with approximately 8.5 million KRW per person provided for field study expenses.
The Ministry of Education and the Korea Student Aid Foundation have designed the program to provide more opportunities to socially disadvantaged groups. At least 30% of the selected participants will be students from vulnerable employment groups such as low-income families, single-parent families, multicultural families, and youth preparing for independence.
Additionally, low-income students within the third income bracket for student financial aid will receive up to 3 million KRW in additional living expenses support to alleviate financial burdens for those considering participation due to economic reasons.
Thus, the Korea-Japan University Student Exchange program was designed to actively reflect the foundation’s establishment purpose of "ensuring that anyone can have access to higher education opportunities based on their will and ability regardless of economic conditions."
The Ministry of Education and the Korea Student Aid Foundation will recruit participating universities until March 29, and the selected universities will select participating students between April and May. The overseas study in Japan is scheduled to begin in July. The study period in Japan will be 4 to 6 months (at least 16 weeks), consisting of local adaptation training and field learning at Japanese companies.
Baek Byung-il, Chairman of the Korea Student Aid Foundation, stated, “It is meaningful that the foundation can pioneer a new area of university student exchange with Japan,” adding, “As this is a new program, we will take responsibility to make it substantial and successful, and we will continuously strive to help participating students improve their language and employment skills. We hope this program will serve as a catalyst for revitalizing exchanges between the future generations of Korea and Japan,” emphasizing the special significance of this program.
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