On October 6th, Pusan National University (PNU) announced it has joined the Association of Pacic Rim Universities (APRU), which promotes the development of a global educational environment by cooperating with world-class universities in the Asia-Pacic region. Sixty universities from 18 countries, including the University of California, National University of Singapore, Peking University, and Australian National University, were registered. PNU was the sixth university to join APRU among the domestic universities, followed by Seoul National University, KAIST, Yonsei University, Korea University, POSTECH.

   “APRU” was established in 1997 by promising researchfocused universities in Asia-Pacic regions to promote a continuous development of higher education in economics, science, and cultural areas. Membership colleges cooperate in various areas such as academic discussions on international agendas, international joint research, and student exchange. To join APRU, it is necessary to strictly go through three stages of procedures: recommendation of existing member universities, review in the secretariat shall, and evaluation by the steering committee. PNU qualied for membership with “unanimity” of the executives in assessment by the steering committee. PNU is expecting to enhance its global status and form a close network with excellent universities abroad by joining APRU, which consists of the most prestigious universities in the world. Primarily, it plans to participate in a member sharing program like a short-term exchange, *VES online lecture, which could help PNU students to strengthen their global capabilities.

   Cha Jeong-In, president of PNU, said, “APRU membership is a welcoming news that innovation of PNU, constant efforts and internationalization capabilities have been recognized internationally along with results of educational research. We will enhance PNU’s global capabilities to deliberate international problems at hand with other prestigious universities in the world and solve sustainability issues.”

*VSE (Virtual Student Exchange) online lecture: Unlike the existing exchange program, an advanced online program allows students to attend the original university lecture simultaneously and participate in the entire lecture of the member schools, not just the dispatched school.