Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.
Ethiopian minister earns KAIST doctorate
Mekuria Teklemariam, an advisor to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia /Courtesy of KAIST
By Bahk Eun-ji
By Bahk Eun-ji
Mekuria Teklemariam, an advisor to the prime minister of Ethiopia, has earned a doctorate in business administration from the graduate school of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), according to the university, Tuesday.
The 50-year-old urban and housing affairs advisor ― with the rank of minister ― was elected to the country's parliament a decade ago at the age of 40, the youngest in Ethiopian history. After completing his term, he decided to study abroad to devote himself to develop his country's economy.
“The successful role model for me was Korea at that time, so I chose to come here,” Teklemariam said. “Korea has made remarkable economic and social progress over the last decades, so I wanted to study the driving force of growth academically for my country's development.”
The Ethiopian government formed a nine-member committee to discuss the matter and decided to support the minister's decision. He entered the KAIST graduate school in September in 2016 and earned the doctorate degree only four years allowing him to return home Sept. 12.
Teklemariam studied the effects of bridging the digital divide on economic growth and corruption control, and improving broadband subscriptions in developing countries, and differentiating mobile broadband policies across diffusion stages, then publicized them at domestic and international academic conferences.
Through collaborative research with the Korea Association for ICT Promotion and the Science and Technology Policy Institute, he won the Outstanding Collaborative Research Award twice from the KAIST Institute for IT Convergence.
In addition, his graduation thesis, “Differentiating mobile broadband policies across diffusion stages: A panel data analysis. Telecommunications Policy,” was published in Telecommunications Policy, an international journal focused on the changing roles of telecommunications in the economy and society.
The minister chose the Saemaul Undong, also known as the New Community Movement, which is seen as part of the driving force behind Korea's rapid economic success in the aftermath of the 1950-53 Korea War, internet infrastructure construction, and IT education programs for the elderly, as Korean policies he would like to see applied in his country.
During a meeting with KAIST President Shin Sung-chul last month, he said, “I was impressed by the Korean people. I will apply and practice what I have learned from Korea and KAIST to Ethiopia.”
Shin said, “We seek to find ways to cooperate that can be practically used to expand exchanges between the two countries.”