KDI School held ‘Rural Public Service System’ which is the training courses for 22 Chinese public administrators of NDRC, National Development and Reform Commission, from October 12^th to 19^th, 2015.  KDI School shared Korea’s development experiences and the current situation of rural public administration with the visitors. ‘Rural Public Service System’ is a follow-up progress of last year’s ‘China NDRC Training’ courses. KDI School received a request from China to take place this event for making a good relationship between two countries, Korea and China.

‘Rural Public Service System’ had a total of 8 different lecturers: Agriculture Development Policy by Professor Jung Sub Choi, New Village Movement in South Korea by Do Hyun Han, the 6^th industry as agriculture by Dr. Taegon Kim, The Role of the Government For Rural Development by Dr. Chang Young Kang, Improving the Living Standards of the Farmers by Dr. Young Ae Shin, Agriculture-Food Safety Programs by Professor Yo Han Yoon, and Agriculture Product Distribution Network and E-commerce by Dr. Byung Yul Kim.

The Chinese officials were interested in topics such as food safety authentication system, quality control of agricultural products, agricultural product distribution network and E-commerce system in Korea.

The Chinese officials have requested KDI School for lectures on the Korean economic development and its macroeconomic policies in the near future.  They also hoped to be briefed on the Korean society and its culture. In addition to these introductory sessions, the visitors also mentioned the need for detailed presentation on the policy making, decision-making and its implementation.

As for the visit to certain public organizations, the officials were relatively more interested in the operational status of Garakdong agricultural and seafood market and its modernization process as well as in field trip to large-scale auction markets and wholesale markets. These field trips and visits were rated positively, but they hoped to visit more of the governmental organizations later on.

By Grace Eun Hye Choi (2015 MPP, Korea)