Kookmin University (President Jeong Seung-ryul) hosted 12 students from the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) located at Osan Air Base on Tuesday, May 13, as part of the HUSS Global Coexistence Project, and successfully completed the “Sustainable Global Coexistence Program.”

This program was conducted as part of the “Global Sustainability Program,” a collaborative program between Kookmin University's HUSS Global Coexistence Project and the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, and was planned to seek educational exchange and cooperation through various Korean language and cultural activities.

This event, the first since the program kickoff meeting between professors at Kookmin University in February, was attended by Professor Eun Jong-oh from the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in the United States, Kang Lorraine, Professor Krebby Seo-young, Professor Josephine Petkovski, Professor Kim Mi-sun, and 12 students from the National Defense University of Foreign Studies. From Kookmin University, Lee Dong-eun, Deputy Director of the Global Symbiosis Project Team; Lee Soo-yeon, Head of the Korean Language and Literature Department; Seong Shin-hee, Team Leader of the Global Symbiosis Project Team; Kang Yeon-heung, Research Professor of the Global Symbiosis Project Team; and 28 students from the Global Korean Language Major of the Korean Language and Literature Department attended the event.

The exchange program included the following activities: △Introduction of the U.S. Defense Language Institute and Kookmin University (Professor Eun Jong-oh of the U.S. Defense Language Institute and Lee Dong-eun, Deputy Director of the Global Symbiosis Project Team at Kookmin University) △Visit to the Vehicle Human Factors Engineering Laboratory (Humans and Vehicle Automation Lab) at the Automotive Fusion College △Tour of the Myungwon Museum and Han Gyu-seol House △Lunch △Thematic discussions and team activities △Presentation of certificates of appreciation △Closing ceremony. The two universities agreed to continue operating such language and cultural exchange programs and to collaborate closely to enable more students to participate in the next semester.

Professor Eun Jong-oh, Director of the Korean Language Program Center at the National Defense University, who led the program, emphasized the importance of the program, saying, “This program will be an important turning point for students to grow as Korean language experts.” Professor Lee Dong-eun, Deputy Director of the Global Symbiosis Project Team at Kookmin University (Department of Korean Language and Literature), who oversaw the program, said, ” “Through this program, we believe that mutual cultural understanding and creative cooperation between Korean and American students will contribute significantly to sustaining a peaceful global community. We will continue to realize the value of global coexistence through educational exchanges between the two universities.”

Meanwhile, the HUSS Global Symbiosis Consortium will be operated by several universities, including Kwangwoon University, Kookmin University, Sunmoon University, Yeungnam University, and Honam University, with a total of 9 billion won in funding from the Ministry of Education and the National Research Foundation of Korea over three years starting in 2024. The consortium aims to cultivate 2,500 core interdisciplinary talents equipped with capabilities in sustainable resource management, sustainable industry understanding, and sustainable global society inclusion, and has been consistently striving to contribute to global coexistence.