At 9:00 AM on December 21st, Thursday, 2023, a group of visitors from Vietnam’s Academy of Politics Region IV visited SNUAC to discuss future exchanges and cooperation.

From the Academy, seven people including Dr. Phan Công Khanh (Director), Trần Hoàng Hiểu (Officer of International Cooperation), Nguyễn Thị Đức (Secretary), Hồ Thanh Hớn (Dean, Faculty of Law), Phan Thị Thúy Vân (Dean, Faculty of Party Building), and Nguyễn Trọng Quân (Third Secretary at the Embassy of Vietnam in Korea) visited.

From SNUAC, seven people greeted the visitors including SNUAC director Prof. Suhong Chae (Anthropology), Prof. Kilkon Ko (GSPA; Director of ARIC), Prof. Sunyoung Kim (GSPH; Deputy Director of SNU Division of International Cooperation), and students Jaesok Myung (Ph.D. student, Political Science & International Studies; Research assistant at Vietnam Center), Kyungmin Kim (Ph.D. student, Anthropology; Research assistant at Southeast Asia Center), Vũ Thị Mỹ Hằng (Ph.D. student, Geography), Dau Thanh Hao (Ph.D. student, Economics), and Dao Hung (Ph.D. student, GSPA).

Academy of Politics Region IV is a member unit of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics (Học viện Chính trị Quốc gia Hồ Chí Minh), the subordinate commission of the Party Central Executive Committee and the Government (Ban Chấp hành Trung ương Đảng Cộng sản Việt Nam). It is located in Can Tho City, a point city in the Mekong Delta. It is in charge of the Southwest region including the Mekong Delta. The academy is responsible for teaching political theory to high officials in regional offices and offering refresher job training for the officials.

Dr. Khanh, Director of the Academy of Politics Region IV, appreciated the warm welcome from SNUAC and introduced the function and organization of the academy. He delivered the opinion that the academy wishes to strengthen cooperative ties with not only SNUAC but also the educational organization of SNU in terms of public administration management education. Director Chae of SNUAC introduced to the visitors the organization and research staff of SNUAC and responded that SNUAC could be a channel for higher educational organizations in Vietnam when they wish to cooperate with their Korean counterparts. Prof. Kilkon Ko (Director of ARIC) introduced the programs that GSPA is operating with support from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, the refresher training programs for high public officials in ASEAN regions. Dr. Khanh mentioned that they are in dire need of training programs to prepare for the digital turn in the administrative system in Vietnam’s Southwest region, and explained how they need to learn from the Korean government’s successful experience of the digital transition. Prof. Ko mentioned that a commissioned training program for the digital turn can be possible for the Academy of Politics Region IV and high public officials in Vietnam and that he would discuss organizing a program after receiving a proposal from the academy in the near future.