Chancellor Howard Gillman has signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Assembly of South Korea for UCI to serve as a site for senior and midlevel government officials to further their knowledge and experience through study, research, professional development and symposia. Gillman signed the joint agreement with Secretary General Yoo Ihn-tae. UCI already has strong ties with many government, research and educational entities in South Korea. The campus’s School of Law and Korea Law Center are affiliated with South Korea’s constitutional and supreme courts. UCI’s Center for Critical Korean Studies was founded in 2016 with an $850,000 grant from the Academy of Korean Studies.

The Korea Foundation supports the Korea Corner in UCI’s Langson Library. The Korean Consulate in Los Angeles has also been an important partner of the university for many years. In addition, UCI has strong connections with top research universities in South Korea, including Seoul National University, Yonsei University, Korea University, KAIST and Ewha Womans University.

This is the second time UCI has made such an agreement with the National Assembly of South Korea, the first time being in 2013. Since then, Gillman has spent time in the country visiting with senior government officials, as well as the presidents of several universities, to discuss a number of collaborations.

Other members of the South Korean delegation in attendance at the UCI signing were:

Wanhee Jeon, director of human resource management, National Assembly of South Korea

Jungyoon Lee, deputy director of parliamentary training, National Assembly of South Korea

Kim Wan-joong, consul general, Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Los Angeles

Shinyoung Park, education attaché, Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Los Angeles

Bella Yanghyeon Im, translator, Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Los Angeles

Inchul Namgung, legislative attaché, Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Los Angeles