Japanese

On November 21, 2025, Hiroshima University (HU) President Mitsuo Ochi, Executive Vice President (Global Initiatives) Shinji Kaneko, and Deputy Executive Director (Campus Globalization) Minju Kim visited Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) in the Republic of Korea to sign an annex on student exchange.

Exchange with HUFS began when the two institutions started collaborating in 2021, after HU was selected for the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s “Inter-University Exchange Project (CAMPUS Asia Plus Program)”. Since then, more than 20 students have participated in mutual exchanges, including summer schools and study-abroad programs. The conclusion of this annex aims to build on these achievements and further develop student exchange between the two universities in a more systematic and active manner.

During the visit, President Jeong-Woon Park, Vice President of External Affairs and Development Min Jeong Kim, Dean of International Affairs Jaewan Yang, Dean of the Department of Japanese Language, Literature and Culture Changhak Moon, and other representatives of HUFS warmly welcomed the HU delegation. HUFS introduced its achievements as an international university offering educational programs in more than 45 languages across its Seoul and global campuses, providing outstanding language education and area studies in a multicultural environment. They also shared information on their advanced initiatives to enhance international education, including hosting approximately 2,000 international students annually and implementing educational reforms aimed at AI and interdisciplinary fields.

Meanwhile, the HU delegation introduced the manga “Taking a Tour with Hiroko-san through Hiroshima University,” illustrated by Mr. Kenshi Hirokane, as part of HU’s efforts to promote the university’s history and research achievements more broadly. In addition to the Japanese version, the manga is also available in Korean, English, Chinese, Indonesian, and Vietnamese, and is utilized to convey the appeal of HU to international audiences. HU also explained its research clusters in areas such as semiconductors, digital manufacturing, regenerative medicine, and genome editing. Furthermore, HU introduced the University Presidents for Peace Conference, an initiative that invites university leaders from around the world to Hiroshima to share the realities of the atomic bombing and discuss the role of universities in building peace.

With the conclusion of this annex to the student exchange agreement, cooperation between the two universities enters a new stage. Moving forward, collaboration in both education and research - centered on student exchange - is expected to be further strengthened, contributing to the continued development of academic and cultural exchange between Japan and Korea.