March 28, 2025 — Dr. Kyungjin Song moderated the first session of the Korea-India Economic Partnership Forum, which was co-hosted by the Embassy of India in Seoul and the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) on March 27. Dr. Song moderated the first session on “Strategic Importance of Korea-India Relations in the Indo-Pacific.” The discussions focused on past and present changes in the Indo-Pacific region and the development of Korea-India relations. The session panels include Yeon-Jung Ji (Republic of Korea Naval Academy), Won-Deuk Cho (Korea National Diplomatic Academy), and Commodore R. Seshadri Vasan (Chennai Centre for Chinese Studies). The panels emphasized the growing importance of maritime security and the roles of key countries in the Indo-Pacific region. They noted that, amid the weakening of the U.S.-led international order and the rise of non-aligned forces, cooperation among U.S. allies and partner countries will become increasingly crucial. They also mentioned that..

The Asia Foundation, with support from Microsoft, is launching the Skills2Work Busan project. This initiative aims to provide digital skills training and job readiness support to 70 participants, including career-interrupted women and out-of-school youth in Busan. As part of the project, The Asia Foundation Korea Office visited local partner organizations in Busan on March 10, together with the Korea Information Technology Research Institute (KITRI), the project’s training partner. The local partners include the Busan IT Industry Promotion Agency (BIPA), the Busan Gender Equality and Family, Lifelong Education Institute (BGLI), and six Women’s Resources Development Centers in Dong-gu, Dongnae-gu, Busanjin-gu, Sasang-gu, Saha-gu, and Haeundae-gu in Busan. At the BGLI, representatives from the institute and the six Women’s Resources Development Centers discussed specific training needs and explored project implementation strategies for career-interrupted women. At BIPA, training needs and potential collaboration opportunities to support out-of-school..

February 28, 2025 - The Asia Foundation Korea Office sponsored the International Conference for the ROK-India Partnership, “Bridging the Future: New Horizons in Korea-India Relations”, co-organized by the Sejong Institute and the Embassy of India in Korea on Thursday, February 27. Dr. Kyungjin Song, participated as the moderator for Session 2, held under the theme Building Together Resilient Supply Chains. In this session, panels included Jongchul Kim, Director General for International Trade Relations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy; Jaebum Park, Senior Principal Researcher at POSCO Research Institute; Saon Ray, Visiting Professor at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations; and Amol Lahoti, Vice President of Central Purchase at Tata AutoComp Systems. They shared their insights and engaged in discussions on the topic.      The panelists emphasized that despite Korea and India being major global economies, trade between the two countries remains at a relatively low level ..