Contributions to the development of education and culture in Vietnam
After volunteering in Vietnam in 2002, attracted Vietnamese students and led academic exchange between the two nations
Used money out of his own pocket to hold international student meetings and also acted as a tourist guide
[November 28, 2014]

<Administrative chief Kim Mun-jae (first on right) received the Ho Chi Minh People's Committee 'Order' of Vietnam>

"All I did was have a meal with YU students from Vietnam. I'm quite embarrassed to receive such an award from the Ho Cho Minh government. As faculty, it's my job to help international students at our school to settle in!"

A faculty member of YU received an 'Order' from the Ho Chi Minh People's Committee of Vietnam for his contributions to the development of education and culture for Vietnamese people.

Administrative Chief Kim Mun-jae (57) of the YU Health Management Center received the award. Kim received the Vietnamese Ho Chi Minh People's Committee Order from Thu Duc College of Technology. The Ho Chi Minh government of Vietnam recognized his efforts for development and exchange between the two nations for the past 12 years.

Mr. Kim Mun-jae first made ties with Vietnam during a 20 day volunteer program at Thu Duc College of Technology as the director of the YU Winter Overseas Volunteer Corps in January 2002. Kim said that he held in-depth discussions about academic exchange and recruiting international students with the then-dean of Thu Duc College of Technology, Toan Nguyen (61), and stated, "At that time there was almost no exchange between our university and Vietnam so I thought that interacting with Vietnamese colleges such as Thu Duc College of Technology would contribute to the development of our colleges in different countries."

Mr. Kim who came back to school after the volunteer activities discussed matters with YU departments in charge of international exchange and began full-fledged efforts to begin academic exchanges with Vietnamese universities and to attract international students. In 2003, he went to Vietnam to visit universities in Ho Chi Minh City to discuss academic exchange and to attract Vietnamese students to come to YU. In result, the first eight international students from Vietnam enrolled at the YU Graduate School (master's degree program) in August 2003.

At the time, Mr. Kim used money from his pocket to hold meetings with international students to help them adapt to their new environment as soon as possible and listened to their hardships. He also created a community so that international students may help and depend upon each other. Furthermore, he sponsored students with fall and winter clothing and tried to help them with any discomforts that they might feel while studying abroad. The school also did its part to provide support to their first Vietnamese students such as giving them used computers.

In December 2005, he invited Le Van Vhung, Minister of Society and Culture of the Ho Chi Minh People's Committee, and Toan Nguyen, dean of Thu Duc College of Technology were invited to YU to talk about exchange and cooperation with domestic universities. In result, the YU College of Engineering began operating the 'Ho Chi Minh faculty training program', and it is now celebrating its ninth year since 2006. Mr. Kim has also shown his affection for the training team. He took the initiative to show the Korean culture by becoming a guide for them on the weekends to traditional markets and tourist attractions.

In January 2009, Mr. Kim once again used his own money to visit Vietnam in order to suggest the establishment of an alumni association for international students from Vietnam who studied at YU. His efforts led to the founding of the YU alumni association at Ho Chi Minh City in 2011, which is still active.

Mr. Kim, who first made ties with Vietnam 12 years ago through volunteer activities, said, "There are so many more professors and employees who work even harder than I do to help international students, so it embarrassing that I am the only being picked out." He added, "Regardless of receiving this Order, I would like to continue to help international students as I have done until now if I can."

Meanwhile, since the first eight Vietnamese students enrolling at YU in 2003, 88 international students from YU graduated from the YU undergraduate or graduate school, with 44 students currently enrolled in undergraduate, graduate and Korean language schools.