Kang Hyun-Jin Reporter

Kookmin University (KMU) has reached an agreement with Japan Kindai University. President Jeong Seung Ryul visited Kindai University, where he met with President Yoshihiko Hosoi and attended the signing ceremony for the double degree agreement between the two institutions. Kindai University, located in Osaka, Japan, was founded as Osaka Technical College in 1925 and established as
Kindai University in 1949.

Today, Kindai University is renowned in Japan, boasting seven campuses, 34,000 students, and 3,600 faculty members.
Following the signing ceremony, President Jeong Seung Ryul shared a pleasant conversation with President Hosoi Yoshihiko about the pending issue of global education cooperation.

The two universities have been steadily interacting since 2015 when initial arrangement was made. Seizing this opportunity, our institutions have pledged to maintain close and constructive relationships, expanding the scope of interaction and cooperation.

In this ceremony, President Hosoi Yoshihiko, Vice President Iwamae Atsushi, Professor Hata Tatsuya, Professor Fujita Naoya, Professor Omura Yoshihiro, along with nine representatives from Kindai University attended. From KMU, President Jeong Seung Ryul, Professor Lee Dong-Eun, and another representative also participated.

The double degree agreement contract holds significant importance as it marks the first agreement between each university and a counterpart in another country. Specifically, this agreement entails a 2+2 double degree arrangement between KMU’s Global College of Humanities and Area Studies and Kindai University’s Global Studies program.

This arrangement is expected to facilitate cultural exchange between nations, as students have the opportunity to pursue double degrees by studying for two years at each university.
According to a faculty member from the International Affairs Division of KMU, the school has been actively interacting with the University of Oregon in the United States, and Zhejiang International Studies University in China.

Although KMU has tried to make a double degree agreement with other universities before, there was no significant interaction. Following the COVID-19, there has been no dispatches or invitations for double degree programs, and no students are currently enrolled in such programs.

However, KMU is now focusing on invitation programs rather than dispatch programs.

hyunjinkang1228@kookmin.ac.kr