July saw KDI School’s renewed efforts to attract the best student base around the world in line with its expanded role in the wake of an imminent restructuring. With the successful conclusion of the Seoul G-20 Summit and as per its recommendations on a focused emphasis on development, it is a proud honor of our School to be chosen from amongst the best schools in Korea to lead global development curricula and research studies. KDI School therefore decided to showcase its unique advantage in this field by organizing a road show for diplomats from around the world through a series of Special Lectures, the first of which was held last month. Ambassadors from 34 countries stationed in Seoul as well as former Korean Ambassadors to other countries were therefore invited for a one on one special lecture on Aid effectiveness in Korean development history.

After a sumptuous lunch during which the diplomats had a chance to interact freely with students, Dean Nam opened the session by welcoming the Ambassadors and introducing the philosophy of research and teaching capacity at the KDI School. Associate Dean Park then gave a detailed presentation regarding the new academic setup including the introduction of a new Master of Development Policy and expanded PhD programme for which he outlined the admissions procedures in detail. The diplomats were encouraged to nominate talented individuals from their countries to take benefit of the excellent faculty and teaching experience of the KDI School.

The highlight of the afternoon, of course, was the special lecture on Aid effectiveness in Korean case by Prof Joon-Kyung Kim who heads the newly created Development Research and Learning Network at the KDI School. He took the esteemed guests through a detailed journey of Korean development history, highlighting the important policy landmarks and implications through which Korea utilized western aid for pursuing economic stabilization and growth strategies. An interesting Q&A session followed with the experienced diplomats making insightful and probing remarks about various measures and their effectiveness adopted by the Korean government.

The interest shown by the diplomatic community in making their talented students become part of the prestigious KDI School alumni was apparent and led Dean Nam to suggest that this special lecture event could be held bi-annually. On this note of willingness to continue such mutually beneficial events in future, the afternoon came to its successful conclusion.

By Fouz Khalid KHAN (2011 MPP, Pakistan)