Korean delegation visited Nitra and our university

The main purpose of the visit of the seven-membered Korean delegation was to discuss the possibilities of strengthening exchanges between Nitra and the city of Gyeongju. The distinguished guests, led by  the Chairman of the City Council Kwon Young-Gil, were welcomed by the Mayor Jozef Dvonč  at the Municipality Office of Nitra on March 15.

The main purpose of the visit of the seven-membered Korean delegation was to discuss the possibilities of strengthening exchanges between Nitra and the city of Gyeongju. The distinguished guests, led by  the Chairman of the City Council Kwon Young-Gil, were welcomed by the Mayor Jozef Dvonč  at the Municipality Office of Nitra on March 15.

On March 16, the guests accompanied by the Deputy Mayor Martin Nemky and Ján Vanča visited the Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra where they were welcomed by prof. Zdenka Gálová,  Vice-Rector for Education and ECTS,  deans and vice-deans of other faculties.

Among the members of the Korean delegation were Han Soon-hee, the Chairman of the Commission for Culture, Lee Sang-eok, the Head of the Department of Culture and Tourism, Kim Ho-chul from the Department of International Relations in the field of culture and art, Kwon Soon-kil, the Secretary of the Department of Public Communications, Yun Hee-jun, the Officer of the Organizational Unit and Professor Kim Sang-hyun from the Dongguk University.

At the beginning of the meeting, the guests became familiar by means of brief presentation with the focusing, educational and research activities, as well as with the international activities of the SUA.

Subsequently, the Head of Delegation  Kwon Young-gil informed that the area they come from is focused on agriculture. „We have highly developed farming of strawberries, rice and other crops and in this field we are able to provide a lot of innovative ideas and practices.“ Professor Kim Sang-hyun said that the town is home of four universities. Dongguk University, which he represented, is the oldest university and it has century of history. Some of the study programs it has similar with the SUA and also 10 thousand students attend it. Professor Kim Sang-hyun said that the leadership of his alma mater will present the offer for a cooperation with the SUA. According to him, joint research activities could be implemented in the field of biotechnology, food resources, landscape engineering, rural development and the like. He said that they have extensive experiences in international cooperation, six million of Chinese students has already passed the gates of the university.

The possibilities for future cooperation with the University of Dongguk presented the Dean of FEM prof.Elena Horská. They could be implemented for example in the field of the investigation of consumer behaviour, participation in summer schools, etc. The Vice-dean of FESRD, Prof. Eleonóra Marišová approached the possibilities for Korean students to study at the SUA within the study programme Development of Rural Tourism offered by the faculty in the consortium of European and Non-European universities and the USA.  Ing. Gabriela Slivinská of IRO informed about the possibilities of engaging the universities from Gyeongju in cooperation with Erasmus plus.

The visitors were interested in the implementing of graduates of the SUA in practice. The Vice-Rector Prof. Zdenka Gálová highlighted the involvement of the university in the national project „Universities as Engines of Educated Society“ which aims to link theory and practice.

Finally, the parties agreed to specify areas for future cooperation. In the future this could lead to the preparation and signing of a cooperation agreement between the institutions.

The program was finished by the tour of university campus – the national cultural monument, auditorium, lecture rooms, but also the student homes and botanic gardens.

In the evening, the Korean guests attended a tour of Nitra Museum. The official part of the visit of Nitra was completed by the gala dinner attended also by the Vice-Rector of the SUA Prof. Zdenka Gálová.