Tongmyong Univ. to confer doctorate to Indian envoy

Indian Ambassador to South Korea Vishnu Prakash will receive an honorary Ph.D. in business administration from Tongmyong University on Thursday, the school in Busan said.

It is uncommon for a foreign ambassador in Korea to get an honorary doctorate from a local university. Prakash is the first foreign envoy to receive such an honorary degree from Tongmyong.

Prakash organized an Indian film festival in cooperation with the university and Busan City from April 26-28 as an event to commemorate the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Korea and India. He is also scheduled to open an Indian cultural center in Busan in September and designate a road in front of the Hongbeopsa Temple in the city as “India Road.”

He is also credited for contributing to the conclusion of a bilateral agreement aiming to expand trade volume between the two countries to 40 trillion won ($35 billion) by 2015.

He was assigned as ambassador to Korea in January 2012. Two months later, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Seoul.

Tongmyong officials said Prakash had been very cooperative in helping the school seek agreements with Amity University in India and cultural centers of the country.

By Chun Sung-woo (swchun@heraldcorp.com)