KRIHS-UOS Internship Program

Date: February 15, 2024

Venue: KRIHS, Sejong, Korea

KRIHS conducted an internship program by recruiting trainees from master’s students at the International School of Urban Sciences (ISUS), University of Seoul (UOS), between Thursday, February 15, and Monday, February 26. Accordingly, the 2024 KRIHS-ISUS UOS Internship Orientation and Country-Specific Presentation was held in the KRIHS at 10:00 a.m. on February 15. GDPC signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the ISUS UOS in December 2013 for working-level cooperation to educate and network public officials in developing countries on land and urban development. Following the MOU, the GDPC conducted an internship program for overseas public officials enrolled at the UOS during winter and summer vacations from 2015 to 2023.

The following five interns majoring in urban development participated in this event: Akuamoah Gertrude Chagmeyo (Planning Analyst, Research and Innovation, National Development Planning Commission, Ghana), Hadiyandaru Raden Danang (Superintendent of Buildings, Cipanas Presidential Palace, Presidential Secretariat, Ministry of State Secretariat, Republic of Indonesia), Soares Pereira Gusmao Maria (Senior Officer, Department of Monitoring and Evaluation, National Program for Rural Area Development, East Timor), Nyallay Ishaka (Aid Management Officer, Development Assistance Coordination Office, Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, Sierra Leone), and Lady Rosa (Technical Assistant, Department of Executive Direction, Metropolitan Planning Institute, Lima, Peru). The director of the GDPC, Youn Hee Jung, as well as mentors, including Sang Keon Lee (Senior Research Fellow), Myungshik Choi (Research Fellow), Yohan Chang (Associate Research Fellow), Eunji Choi (Associate Research Fellow), Eunmo Yang (Associate Research Fellow), and other research staff from the GDPC, were also present at the event.

The internship orientation session began with a welcome speech by GDPC Director and an introduction to the history of KRIHS and each research division, followed by presentations by the interns on research topics based on the current status of each country as well as discussions on mentoring plans through internship programs in the future.

The country presentations included proposed research on the impact of land use after rapid urbanization on the environment and sustainable development in Ghana, the relationship between Jakarta’s urban transport problems and the urban economy after Indonesia’s capital relocation project and the impact of the country’s urban transport policy, East Timor’s land use policy and urban monitoring plans for affordable housing, the effect of Sierra Leone’s public transport policy on private car use, and the impact of land regulations on spatial segregation in Lima, Peru.

As part of the internship program, a tour of Sejong City was conducted with senior research fellow Sang Keon Lee. The participants visited the LH Happy City Sejong Promotion Hall and the Sejong City Integrated Urban Information Center and met with Ho-Shik Lee, the Sejong City Ambassador for International Relations.

This KRIHS-UOS internship program served as a venue to identify each country’s urban and transportation research needs and to establish an international development cooperation network.