The fourth Seoul International Student Forum will kick off on Friday, with 84 members from 32 different countries attending, the Seoul Global Center, a city-run support center for foreign residents, said Wednesday.
The program, launched in 2008, is aimed at reflecting the ideas and proposals of international students studying in Seoul to better serve foreign residents and visitors here.
After holding a launching ceremony on Friday, the students will participate in an intensive program in July and August, their summer vacation. Under the program, they will visit city offices, join volunteer activities and experience Korean culture.
From this year, they are allowed to present their ideas through user created content and well-made videos will be used for the promotion of SISF and the Seoul Global Center, the center said.
The students who show higher performance also will have priority when they apply for the Global Internship Program, which offers job opportunities to work at city offices during summer and winter vacations.
For the SISF program, a total of 196 students at 20 local universities applied and 84 students, including 78 international and six Korean students, were singled out through a document screening and interviews conducted between April and May.
Kay Mi Ng, a 31-year-old lawyer from Malaysia who is studying international law at Hankook University of Foreign Studies, was appointed to lead the forum. She hoped her experiences as a lawyer and an international student in Seoul will be helpful in improving the city life both for citizens and foreign residents.
Bhushan Kumar, 27, an Indian student studying at Kookmin University, and Irina Simeonova, 28, a Bulgarian student of Korea University, were named as vice presidents.
“In order to create a city where foreign residents want to live, we will try to reflect the students’ creative opinions and ideas in the civil service and to maintain a global network with them who are potential publicity ambassadors,” said Oh Seung-hwan, a city official.
By Lee Ji-yoon (
jylee@heraldcorp.com)
