Yeungnam University Park Jeonghee Saemaeul Graduate School Sweeps Grand Prize, Excellence Award, and Encouragement Award at UCC Contest

International students at Yeungnam University Park Chung-hee Saemaul Graduate School swept the grand prize, excellence award, and encouragement award at the Saemaul UCC contest.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Koo Dae-sun] Foreign students enrolled in the Park Chung-hee Saemaul Graduate School at Yeungnam University (President Choi Oe-chul) swept various awards, including two grand prizes, two excellence awards, and two encouragement awards, at the ‘6th Saemaul UCC Contest’.

Hosted by the Cheongdo Uri Spirit Culture Foundation, the ‘Saemaul UCC Contest’ is a competition for creating UCC videos that promote the Saemaul Movement. This year’s theme was ‘Pleasant Change, Developing Saemaul Movement.’ From July to October 14, video works were solicited from the entire nation, and the final winners were selected on the 3rd.

Based on criteria such as content and originality, story and editing technical completeness, and YouTube views, a total of 17 winning works were selected through first and second rounds of judging. Among them, the team of Pertiwi Fitri Ayu and Naitio Ferdinandus, foreign students from Indonesia enrolled in Yeungnam University’s Park Chung-hee Saemaul Graduate School, won the grand prize.

The title of their submitted work is ‘How to Become a Saemaul Warrior.’ To study the reasons why Korea, once one of the poorest countries in the world, achieved economic development as it is today, an Indonesian graduate student visiting Cheongdo, Korea?the birthplace of the Saemaul Movement?captured the process of learning about the Saemaul Movement through its core values of diligence, self-help, and cooperation in a short video of about three minutes.

Ferdinandus said, “As the content of the video we produced shows, I came to study at Yeungnam University’s Park Chung-hee Saemaul Graduate School to learn about the Saemaul Movement and Korea’s development. I think the video was well received because it captured the Saemaul Movement, Korea’s economic development, and the core values of the Saemaul Movement from a foreigner’s perspective.” He added, “As the title of our submission suggests, as a student majoring in Saemaul studies, I want to become a Saemaul warrior in Indonesia and contribute to the development of my homeland.”

In addition to the grand prize, two excellence awards and two encouragement awards were also won by foreign students at the Park Chung-hee Saemaul Graduate School.

The reason why foreign students at Yeungnam University’s Park Chung-hee Saemaul Graduate School have been achieving consecutive good results in the Saemaul UCC Contest can be attributed to Yeungnam University’s systematic curriculum that academizes the Saemaul Movement. Their understanding of Saemaul is higher than that of Koreans as Saemaul scholars.

Moreover, active university-level support such as video production education for foreign students also played a part. Yeungnam University has been conducting specialized education on video production and editing every year.

Lee Hee-wook, dean of Yeungnam University’s Park Chung-hee Saemaul Graduate School, said, “We support foreign students not only in their major studies but also in Korean language education, Korean cultural experiences, and various extracurricular courses including video production education. We hope they can broaden their understanding of Korea, develop their capabilities in various fields, and create synergy by utilizing and applying their major as Saemaul scholars.”

Yeungnam University’s Park Chung-hee Saemaul Graduate School was established in 2011 to train Saemaul leaders from developing countries. Unlike general undergraduate and graduate students, foreign students enrolled in the Park Chung-hee Saemaul Graduate School consist of government officials and public institution workers who plan and execute policies in their respective countries, social activists, and professionals.

Currently, 43 foreign students from 19 countries are enrolled. So far, 808 students from 71 countries have been admitted, and 724 students from 66 countries have earned master’s degrees in ‘Saemaul Studies’ and other fields. They are now active as key policy makers, international development experts, and Saemaul Movement leaders in their countries’ central ministries, public institutions, and international development NGOs.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.