Eurasia: How understanding bilateral ties can shape global perspective

Education in Korea gave Bhushan a new perspective to understand the relation between the two countries

Understanding bilateral ties can shape global perspective
A lecturer at the department of Political Science and International Relations, Kookmin University, South Korea, Bhushan Kumar first came to the East Asian nation in 2008 as a student for pursuing a course in the Korean language from Yonsei University, Seoul, after completing his undergraduate and master’s at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). The Korean Government Scholarship Program (KGSP) fuelled his dream.

Bhushan, 36, who hails from Vaishali, Bihar, completed his PhD in International Relations and Diplomacy in 2014, which gave him an insight into the India-Korea political and economic relationship. “The International Relations course cultivated my academic career with competence into the professional and global stage. My thesis was on ‘India-Korea CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement)’ in the context of India’s ‘Look East’ Policy. The thesis analysed the consequences of this interaction for India’s foreign policy options specifically in the East Asia region. This has come to play an important role in the perspective of India’s geopolitical interests,” says Bhushan, who tried his hands on several career development courses in between including support for domestic and overseas employment.
Competitive global environmentSeoul is the technological hotspot of the world and home to some of the world’s best universities. The universities here, says Bhushan, offer a competitive global environment and a wide array of areas for undergraduate, masters, and doctorate programmes. “South Korean universities foster productive research environment and many research institutes are now globally recognised for their cutting-edge research,” says Bhushan.
India-Korea bilateral relationsBhushan says that understanding the India-Korea bilateral cooperation can help shape students’ perspective about geopolitical status in the region. “While teaching, I focus on India’s relationship with East Asian countries, especially with Korea. Students visiting Korea to study or work should understand the strong bilateral relationship between the nations,” says Bhushan.A unique feature of this course is that students can attend the undergraduate courses while doing a PhD degree. “Most of my classmates were military men while some worked at the Korean national assembly. It offered a good opportunity to learn about the Korean military and security system,” says Bhushan.
Benefits of South Korean degrees
“The degrees of Korean universities are valued highly in Asia and other parts of the world. There are a lot of job opportunities in Korea, and a good number of Korean companies are established in India as well, which provide openings for Indian students,” says Bhushan.Korea also offers scholarships to Indian students such as the Global Korea Scholarship under the Korean government, Korea Foundation Scholarship, Brain Korea (BK) Scholarship, and POSCO TJ Park Foundation Scholarship.

However, Bhushan cautions that those who aspire to study Social Science courses in Korea need to check whether the university provides courses in English or not because language is one of the barriers for international students in the country.
Overcoming the corona challenge
There is no doubt that studying or working abroad is not easy during the pandemic, but South Korea has shown great effort to control the novel COVID-19. “According to Forbes, South Korea is ranked as the third safest out of 100 countries around the world during the pandemic,” says Bhushan.It is interesting to know that South Korea was never been completely locked down. Korea is on the right track, says Bhushan, and most of the economic activities are running smoothly with transparency, robust screening and quarantine, unique but universally-applicable solutions of strict control and treatment.