Kauno kolegija Higher Education Institution (HEI) has been developing a partnership with Myongji University in South Korea since 2022, when not only the inter-institutional mobility of the EU Erasmus+ programme was signed, but also a bilateral cooperation agreement covering various fields and forms of cooperation. Students of the Kauno kolegija HEI International Business study programme have already gone to this university for partial studies, new student exchanges are also planned.

The visit of Dalia Ilevičienė, dean of the Faculty of Business, and Jolanta Valiaugienė, international partnership development coordinator, who visited Myongji University on April 3–8, was significant in consolidating the partnership and planning further cooperation actions. Also, specific opportunities were clarified, and possible further meetings and funding instruments were discussed. According to D. Ilevičienė, further partnership has been agreed upon in preparation for new projects and involvement in the activities of new associations.

Myongji University is open to the world and has partners in as many as 52 countries. Since 2014, it has been an institution accredited by the Korean Ministry of Education to receive and administer foreign students due to its excellent teaching and administration results. Now, out of approximately 23,000 students, more than 1,600 are foreign students. Interestingly, Myongji University receives the most foreign students from France, Germany, as well as Japan and Taiwan. The university has the most partners in these countries. According to Jay Chae, coordinator of Myongji University’s international partnership, Kauno kolegija HEI is currently their only partner in the Baltic States, so the further development of cooperation and student exchange is very important for the university to ensure its international coverage and interculturality.

It is a leading and still growing institution in the field of research and innovation development, therefore, the European Commission’s information about new opportunities for Korea’s researchers to participate in the Horizon Europe programme, published just before the visit and presented by J. Valiaugienė during the visit, particularly interested colleagues. During the visit, Kaunas kolegija HEI’s project experience in implementing international projects was also shared and the areas of possible project activities were discussed.

To promote cooperation with South Korean universities, not only Erasmus+ mobility grants are awarded – there is also an opportunity to finance mutual exchanges under the DUO-Korea 2024 Fellowship programme. This is especially relevant in the development of mutual exchange of researchers.