Professor Ki-Seok Kim, Emeritus Professor at Seoul National University, Delivered his Lecture in Professor Ogawa’s Human Capital Development Class

On June 3rd, 2014, Dr. Ki-Seok “Korbill” Kim at Seoul National University delivered a special lecture about Korean education development in the Simulation Room on the 6th floor of the Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies (GSICS). Dr. Kim is an Emeritus Professor at Seoul National University and has been in Kobe since April 2014 as a Visiting Professor in GSICS at Kobe University. His lecture topic was “A Critical Appraisal: Human Capital & Resources Development: For Whom and What?”

First, he introduced Korean economic and social development with a historical point of view and how Korean education developed since the Korean War. He also described high levels of Korean education and academic achievement as advantages of education development. On the other hand, he talked about issues such as the high cost of education as disadvantages. Moreover, he mentioned about his non-profit foundation, “Education Without Borders (EWB)” and its project called “Global Alliance for Poverty Alleviation (GAPA)” in Burkina Faso, which focuses on improvement of women’s empowerment in poor society. Lastly, he suggested that basic education, including “Lifelong Learning” and vocational education, is very important from a long term perspective in education development as one of the main themes for Post EFA.

It was an inspiring lecture and we also learned a lot about education development in Korea from Dr. Kim. It was a great opportunity for students who participated to have a deeper understanding about Post EFA/MDGs and education development. Thank you very much, Professor Ki-Seok ‘Korbil’ Kim, for delivering a very informative and stimulating lecture. We also thank Professor Keiichi Ogawa for providing us with a very good opportunity to learn from other internationally well-known professors.

By Takeru Numasawa & Yuki Haramoto