SEOUL, October 06 (AJP) - Students sent overseas by Kookmin University are turning project work at foreign companies into internships and jobs, as the Seoul school moves its international programs beyond exchange visits and language courses.
Kookmin University (KMU) said it has sent about 50 students to Irvine, California, since 2024 under its Global Project-Based Learning program. After internships arranged through the program, some were hired by overseas companies including Z-Order, Bestia Group LLC and Kable Inc. The university did not give a figure for how many were hired.
Participants spend about six months on projects in fields such as global entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence, software development, design and research, mentored by local professionals. The program is built so that the project period leads into internships at local companies.
Jeong Seung-ryul, the university's president, said KMU's long-term development plan through 2035 lists global capabilities and networks among its four core strategies. The university marks its 80th anniversary this year.
In automotive software, KMU runs a one-year program in Germany with the Volkswagen Group Woori Foundation called Software Engineering in Automotive and Mobility Ecosystems. Students study embedded systems, the small computers built into vehicles to run specific functions, along with autonomous driving and cybersecurity.
A team of Software Engineering in Automotive and Mobility Ecosystems (SEA:ME) students from KMU and other South Korean universities, led by KMU, won the Bosch Future Mobility Challenge 2026 in Romania in May. The international self-driving competition, hosted by German automotive supplier Bosch, drew 57 teams from around the world.
Beyond student placements, the university has extended its partnerships to international organizations and foreign governments. Its Asia Olympic Graduate School opened last year as the first institution in Asia certified by the Olympic Council of Asia, the body that oversees Olympic sport on the continent and organizes the Asian Games. The school trains international sports professionals and helps athletes build new careers after they retire from competition.
In September, at the invitation of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), former Olympic medalists studying at the school on scholarships met the OCA president and the president of the International Olympic Committee at the Asian Games.
In advanced technology, the university is extending its cooperation to Central Asia. In September, it signed an agreement with Tashkent University of Information Technologies in Uzbekistan, with which it co-hosted an international academic conference in 2024.
KMU then signed a memorandum of understanding with Uzbekistan's Ministry of Digital Technologies. The university said it plans to widen its academic exchanges with the country into joint teaching, research and industry partnerships in AI and software.
"We plan to continue expanding cooperation with overseas universities, companies and international organizations, and to support students so they can experience the global field while still in school and become competitive on the world stage," Jeong said in a statement.
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