Sejong University expanding educational cooperation with ASEAN universities

Lee Chung-hoon, right, head of external affairs at Sejong University, poses with Saravanan Muthiah, vice provost for student affairs at Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP), after signing an agreement to expand global educational collaboration under the CAMPUS Asia-AIMS program at the UTP campus in Malaysia on June 11. Courtesy of Sejong University

Sejong University is stepping up efforts to expand educational cooperation with universities across the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The university said Monday that the efforts are part of the third batch of the CAMPUS Asia-AIMS program, which is designed to strengthen educational ties between Korea and ASEAN countries through student exchanges and joint academic programs. AIMS is short for Asian International Mobility for Students.

The initiative is an intergovernmental multilateral student mobility program operated by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Regional Center Specializing in Higher Education and Development.

The program aims to establish a government-supported multilateral higher education cooperation framework similar to Europe’s Erasmus Program.

In Korea, the Ministry of Education oversees the program, while the Korean Council for University Education is responsible for selecting and evaluating participating universities.

The program, which began in 2026, will focus on four key goals this year: expanding interdisciplinary education linked to future-oriented fields such as artificial intelligence (AI); strengthening learning experiences and academic recognition in exchange programs; enhancing scholarship opportunities and degree programs; and building a sustainable global talent network.

Sejong University is running the Sejong Global STAR Program under the leadership of Lee Chung-hoon, head of external affairs, as part of this year's program, creating a global talent development model combining specialist training, language and cultural competence, AI and digital skills and opportunities to work on real-world applications.

The program will develop and jointly offer courses with partner universities based on a “9+3+3 joint curriculum,” comprising nine credits in core AI convergence courses, three credits in major electives, and three credits in language and cultural studies.

“While expanding the scope of student exchanges, the key focus of the third batch of CAMPUS Asia-AIMS is to jointly design curricula and ensure that students’ learning outcomes translate into degree opportunities and career pathways,” Lee said.

He added, “By combining Sejong University’s strengths in AI and digital education with the educational and industry networks of ASEAN universities, we will build a sustainable global talent ecosystem in which students from both regions can learn and grow together.”

Sejong University’s CAMPUS Asia-AIMS project team visited Malaysia and Indonesia in June to discuss with partner universities ways to develop and implement joint curricula, expand student exchanges, and strengthen collaboration in fields such as AI and IT.

Based on these discussions, the team plans to further develop joint courses and credit-recognition systems with participating universities while gradually expanding the scope of collaboration.

This year, Sejong University plans to conduct two-way student exchanges with its official partner universities, including the University of Malaya, Universiti Utara Malaysia, BINUS University and Ateneo de Manila University, sending 10 students abroad and hosting 10 students from partner universities.