6 universities in 5 Latin American countries jointly offer credit-bearing online Korean studies courses

Six universities in Chile, Peru, Argentina, Ecuador, and Colombia have created a joint education network that offers online Korean studies courses to one another and recognizes them for regular academic credit. In its first year, six courses on contemporary Korea, including Korean democracy and the economy and industry, will be offered.

The Korea Foundation said on the 13th that it held the launch ceremony for the KF Global e-School UCEN–Latin America Consortium at Universidad Central de Chile in Santiago, Chile, on August 12 local time.

6 universities in 5 countries share one classroom

The consortium includes Universidad Central de Chile, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, National University of La Plata in Argentina, Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, National University of Colombia, and ITM University Institution of Colombia.

The core of the operating model is credit recognition. When a member university opens a live online course, other participating universities run that class as a regular credit-bearing subject at their own institutions. The structure allows several countries to share Korean studies courses that one university would find difficult to provide alone.

First-year courses focus on contemporary Korea

In its first year, the consortium will open six courses, including “Development and Future of K-Democracy” and “Korea’s Economic Policy and Industrial Innovation.” The launch ceremony introduced the consortium agreement and operating model, and Kim Won-ho, emeritus professor at the Graduate School of International and Area Studies of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, gave a special lecture on Korea’s development experience.

Following Chile, the Korea Foundation plans to visit the University of São Paulo in Brazil and participating universities in Colombia to discuss educational cooperation and new projects.

Student-specific course application dates, participation eligibility, and the start dates for individual courses were not included in this announcement.