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Professor Massey and Professor Wilks visited the Ministry for Personnel Management, where they met with the Minister, Mr Kim Dong-Keuk.
Politics academics complete high profile visit to Korea.
Professor Andrew Massey and Emeritus Professor Stephen Wilks have recently represented the College of Social Sciences and International Studies on a successful visit to South Korea. The visit helped to reinforce and celebrate the excellent relationship that Exeter enjoys with the South Korean Government. Owing to long-standing connections with the government, Exeter receives a significant number of Korean students each year, many of whom come to study on the Masters in Public Administration (MPA) based in the Politics Department. A number of these MPA and Doctoral graduates have gone on to hold an impressive array of civil servant and government positions in South Korean.
The visit provided Professor’s Massey and Wilks with an opportunity to re-connect with alumni and speak to prospective students who hope to study at Exeter in future. The host of the visit was one such alumnus, Dr Jung Changsung, who now holds the position of Director, Organisation Assessment and Design in the Korean Civil Service. The itinerary he arranged for Profs Massey and Wilks saw them visit the Ministry for Personnel Management, where they met with the Minister, Mr Kim Dong-Keuk (see attached photo). Meetings at the Ministry further cemented the relationship that exists between Exeter and the South Korean government, with a view to ensuring that future generations of Korean civil servants will continue to be trained at Exeter.
During their stay, both Exeter academics gave presentations to the prestigious National Human Resources Development Institute (NHI), the premier training school for civil servants in South Korea. Professor Wilks delivered a lecture on Brexit, looking at its immediate impact for the UK and speculating on what the future may hold for the country. Prof Massey’s presentation was entitled ‘Recent Administrative Reform in the UK.’ It made a comparison between the UK and the Korean system, alongside a look at what challenges that currently face the UK public sector. Both talks were chaired by the president of the NHI, Dr Oak Dong-suk, and were attended by an audience comprising 70 Director Generals drawn from across the Civil Service. There were also discussions with lead academics from the prestigious Yonsei University.
Prof Andrew Massey, Associate Dean for International and Development in the College, said of the visit ‘Every year we are privileged to receive a range of outstanding students onto our courses who are drawn from the Korean Public Service’s high flyers. It is an honour to visit them and the minister and to see how well our alumni are progressing in their careers and contributing to the continuing modernising and development of the Republic of Korea, a country that is the UK’s sixth largest trading partner.’
Date: 5 April 2017