Pukyong National University

Lee Min-Young bridges for student exchanges between Korea & Japan

- as a Korean language teacher at Tsushima high school, introducing Japanese students to study in Korea and supporting exchange program

△ Lee Min-Young. ⓒPhoto Lee Sung-Jae (PR team) 

The story of an alum from Pukyong National University, who works hard at the forefront of global student exchanges, such as introducing Korea to Japanese high school students who are interested in Korea and supporting them to study in Korea, is particularly eye-catching.

She is our alum, Lee Min-Young (class of '05, dept. of Japanese language and literature), who works as a Korean language instructor at Tsushima high school in Japan.

She is Lee Min-Young (class of 2005, dept. of Japanese language and literature), an alum of our university who is working as a Korean language teacher at Tsushima high school in Japan.

On the 25th, they participated in a university briefing session and a cultural experience program at Pukyong National University, and during this period, they carried out various experience activities in Busan. Tsushima high school visited Pukyong National University in 2001 and held a briefing session on Japanese entrance exams to exchange students, and has been visiting Pukyong National University every summer when language training program is held in Busan.

Students participating in this program are from the international cultural exchange department at Tsushima high school. Among Japanese students, students who are interested in K-pop and K-drama, and want to learn Korean, apply for international cultural exchange department at Tsushima high school.

The international cultural exchange department accepts students from Nagasaki, where the school is located, as well as students from other parts of Japan through the remote island study abroad program ((離島留？). Students come here to prepare for careers related to Korea, such as entering Korean universities.

Students enrolled in the department of International cultural exchange at Tsushima high school learn Korean language classes for one hour every day, second graders take an additional two hours of Korean culture classes per week, and third graders take two hours of conversation classes per week.

This Busan language training program was also prepared by Tsushima high school during the summer vacation to further develop their Korean language skills and provide them with direct experience of Korean people and culture. Lee Min-Young, who has been planning various exchange events as a Korean language teacher, visited Busan as the program manager and leader.

Lee Min-Young has been teaching Korean at Tsushima high school since 2019. At that time, Tsushima high school requested Pukyong National University to dispatch a Korean language teacher, and the university recommended her. She completed both Japanese language and literature and a major related to Korean language education in undergraduate school, and completed a major in Korean language education in graduate school of education.

Lee said, "As Tsushima high school was recognized for its Korean language education capabilities, the Busan language training program was transferred from the office of education of Nagasaki to the school from this year. I hope that I can provide a lot of help to Japanese students who want to go to Korea or enter a related field by providing high quality and efficient teaching."

As she teaches Korean, she is naturally also involved in admission counseling for students who are interested in Korea. She tries to properly introduce Korea by easily explaining various introduction materials and admission documents for Korean universities, which may be difficult for Japanese students.

She said, "There is a growing perception that Korea is a sophisticated, cool, wonderful place among Japanese students recently. For them, I will do my best to expand various exchange events in connection with Japanese high schools, Korean universities, and international exchange-related organizations." <Pukyong Today>