SEOUL, 29 August 2014 – Fifteen Filipino students enrolled in advanced degrees at leading universities in South Korea in the fall semester 2014 received scholarship grants from the Woojung Education and Culture Foundation in an awarding ceremony held on Friday, 29 August 2014 at the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul.

“I hope that the scholarship will help you to learn a new creative knowledge and to achieve your goals,” Foundation Chairman Dr. Lee Joong-Keum said in a welcome speech. “Also, I hope you can be the bridge that connects your home country and Korea, as well as being an outstanding individual who will lead the world.”

Scholars from Laos and Thailand delivered speeches on behalf of the scholarship awardees to express their gratitude and appreciation to WECF, which according to Dr Lee advocates the in expansion of educational opportunities across the different regions to help educate the global leaders of the 21st century.

The Filipino scholars were among 102 students from 13 countries from Asia, Africa and the South Pacific granted scholarships for one semester from the Foundation, which was established in 2008 by the Booyoung Group, a local company focusing on construction, to support global human resource development.

Elaine M. Diza, Cultural Officer and Attaché of the Philippine Embassy in Korea, joined ambassadors from other countries who are based in Seoul and the WECF Board of Directors attended the awarding ceremony, which Mr. Han Seung-Soo, former ROK Prime Minister and President of the General Assembly of the United Nations, as special guest.

The Philippine Embassy in Seoul has assisted the Woojung Scholarship since last year in ensuring that the best and most deserving Filipino graduate school students in Korean universities get a chance at winning the scholarship.

The Woojung Foundation Scholarship, which is worth 4 million KRW (US$3,700) for the fall semester, is very competitive. Evaluated every semester, each recipient has to fulfill a number of requirements to be able to justify their retention dropped. Thirteen are continuing recipients; Marjohn Niño (Crop Science, Chungbuk National University), Lawrence Limjuco (Energy Science and Biotechnology, Myoungji University) were the new grantees for this fall semester.

Of the 13 students, seven are in PhD programs: Valerie Diane Valeriano and Edward Alain Pajarillo (Animal Resource Science, Dankook University), Joseph dela Cruz (Molecular Biotechnology, Hankyong National University), Choco Michael Gorospe (Molecular Biomedicine, Inha University), Judee Grace Nemeno (Biomedical Science and Technology, Konkuk University), John Marc Puguan (Energy Science, Myoungji University), and Eva Marie Wang (Global Education and Cooperation, Seoul National University).

The rest are in Masters programs: Kristine Joy Mallari (MS Environmental Technology and Policy, Korea University), Nikita Mercado (Public Policy, Korea Development Institute), Imee Necessito (Water Resources Engineering) and Alyssa Marie Fulgarenas (MS Chemical Engineering) at Kongju National University, Albert Surla (Structural Engineering, Sangmyung University), and Monica Dulos (International Relations, Sogang University).

Although the WECF was established in 2008 to support global human resource development and has 484 recipients now, Filipino students have been awarded scholarships only from February 2013. The other recipient countries are Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Timor Leste, Fiji, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Kenya, Nepal, and Ghana.