International Student Association

Dear editor,

It is indeed a good idea to establish an international student association in Korea. The response from the Korean education authorities is also very welcoming.

Such an organization not only helps international students to enjoy their studies but also their extra time in Korea. It can play a very constructive role between international student's communities around Korea as well as with Korean society.

Such an organization can also play a key role for the future relationship of Korea with international communities as these students are the brains of their societies and will be future leaders.

These 70,000 students can significantly promote Korea's image and tourism around the world. Korean universities are rapidly growing as international institutes and attracting a lot of international students from around the world.

As the Korean government intends to attract 30,000 more international students, such an organization can help to attract more talented students.

A small investment in international students communities will turn into a big deal as it can produced many well-being ambassadors for the Korean government in their respective countries, promoting cultural as well as economic ties.

At the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Deajeon, there are two main active international students' societies, one is the Muslim Students Association (MSA) and the second, the KAIST International Students Association (KISA), collaborating with different Korean clubs to facilitate the international students

In my opinion mostly international student's bodies in Korea are facing two main problems. One is related to finance and other is a lack of collaboration with different Korean organizations responsible for education and tourism. Such an organization on country level can address these issues very well.

We, the Muslim Students Association, a society of students from 12 Muslim countries in KAIST strongly support this idea and are willing to play any role to make such an organization active and to make it a bridge between the different cultures within Korean society.

Wasif Farooq Representative The Muslim Students Association kaistsociety@yahoo.com