The Posco Asia Fellowship Award Ceremony was held at the KDI School, Lincoln Hall, on March 5th, 2010. Named after Tae-Joon Park, the founder and honorary chairman of POSCO, the TJ Park Foundation Fellowships commonly referred to as the Posco Asia Fellowships are awarded to Asian students studying in Korea. Each year the program awards scholarships to 70 deserving students across Asia and supports them as they work towards their master’s degrees at prominent Korean universities. This year was no exception and four students were awarded the Posco Asia scholarships to pursue their master’s studies at the KDI School.

The four fellows are Marliana Yanti (MPP/PM) from Indonesia, Shadikhodjaev Uygun Shuhratovich (MPP/ED) from Uzbekistan, Zhumagulov Darkhan Beibituly (MPP) from Kazakhstan and Ponghan Charon (MPP) from Thailand. During the award ceremony, Dean Sang-Moon Hahm welcomed the fellows and highlighted KDI School’s commitment to creating global leaders. Vice President of the TJ Park Foundation Kwang Woo Choi, who presented the fellows their certificates, reiterated the foundations’ commitment to enhancing mutual understanding and cooperation among Asian universities. Vice President Choi also challenged the fellows to use this opportunity to not only further their studies but also to learn more about Korean culture and language. In their speeches, the four Posco Asia Fellows expressed their deepest gratitude to the Posco TJ Park Foundation and the KDI School, which have not only enabled them to pursue higher education but toalso experience and learn from and about the unique and rich Korean culture. Lessons, they unanimously agree, will remain with them for a lifetime.

By Adelide Kamanthe (2010 MPP/ED, Kenya)