In January 2001, the Bloustein School and the School’s Urban Planning and Policy Development Masters Program entered into a partnership to accept students from the School of Public Policy and Management of the Korea Development Institute (KDI) into the Urban Planning and Policy Development graduate program. In 2016, a new partnership enabled applicants to be accepted into the Bloustein School’s Master of Public Affairs and Politics (MPAP) program.
Rutgers and the Bloustein School are very well known in Korean academic and planning circles, and offer KDI students an excellent opportunity to broaden their knowledge and practical skills through the combination of coursework and professional internship.
On December 1, the Bloustein School recognized the seven MCRS graduates and four MPAP students completing their studies at the Bloustein School in 2017 in a special graduation ceremony.
MCRS Graduates
Yong Cheol Hong graduated from Hanyang University with a Bachelor’s degree in urban planning and engineering. He has been employed by the Korea Land & Housing Corporation since 1999 and carried out various residential complex projects including planning, feasibility studies and design. He chose the MCRS program to develop a deeper understanding of the field.
Seung Hyun Jung has been employed by the Korea Land and Housing Corporation for the past fifteen years. He graduated from Chungbuk National University with a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Architecture. Seung Hyun is interested in urban planning and public policy. He plans to return to Korea with the skills developed within the MCRS program focused on national development.
Chanho Park graduated from Kookmin University in Seoul, Korea. Since then, he joined the Korea Land & Housing Corporation in 2006 and has been working there for ten years. He has worked mainly on rented apartments and sales of houses.
Eunjeong Park has a BS in Architectural Engineering. She has been working for the National Assembly Secretariat and will go back to the institution after her EJB experience. As the Secretariat’s main role is supporting MPs lawmaking, she used this experience to extended her knowledge of urban planning fundamentals in relation to law.
Jaebong Ryu received a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Gyeongsang National University and a Master of Commercial Science degree from Pusan National University in Korea. He has been employed by the Korea Expressway Corporation for twelve years. Jaebong has carried out planning, road construction, and the various critical projects since 2004. His employment led him to choose the MCRS degree at Bloustein to develop practical knowledge in public policy.
Woosuk Seo earned a Master’s degree in transportation engineering. He has been working at Korea Expressway Corporation since 2002 where he has carried out highway construction planning & management and operating highway transportation systems. After graduating from the MCRS program at the Bloustein School, he wants to apply his knowledge to improving Korean transportation systems.
Si Youn Sung has worked as a Planner for eleven years at the Incheon Metropolitan Government, after completing studies at Inha University in 2005. He has also played a vital role at the Urban Growth Management , Free Economic Zone Regional Development, Infrastructure Policy and Comprehensive Planning. He hopes to make comparisons between the eastern region of the United States and western region of Korea within the planning and environmental spectrum.
MPAP Graduates
Joo Hae Eum majored in Social Welfare for her Bachelor’s degree in Seoul. She has been working at Land and Housing Corporation (LH) in Korea for ten years. She worked at the housing welfare division for eight years to deal with housing welfare matters for low income people. Based on her work experience and social welfare background, She was interested in welfare policy including housing welfare, especially the housing welfare policy for the elders. Also, she is interested in how policy implementers’ satisfaction with their work can affect to the quality of policy implementation.
Sung Won Han received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Korea University. He has been working in the central government as a deputy director since 2008. He started his career in the Ministry of Interior and his major task was formulating policies on raising the competitiveness of local government including integration of small cities into metropolis. In addition he also worked at the pension division, at the Ministry of Personnel for five years. During this period, he was responsible for the extensive work on civil service pension reform that was passed into law in 2015.
Hye Young Song graduated from Korea University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics in 2012. She has since been working as a deputy director for the Ministry of Environment of South Korea where she has been developing her expertise on environmental regulation regarding water and household waste management. Hye Young has studied a variety of theories and cases affecting regulation which could accomplish both environmental preservation and economic competitiveness.
Jaewon Yoo received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Kyung Hee University in 2005. He has been employed by the Korea Expressway Corporation where he has carried out planning and management of budget for eleven years. Jaewon came to learn the theories, methods, and practice specialized in the field of public policy from the MPAP program at the Bloustein School. He will apply the knowledge from school to establish a strategy of business management in his company.
The KDI School of Public Policy and Management was established in 1998 to meet the educational needs of government and business leaders in a globalizing world economy. The school is a collaborative effort between the Korea Development Institute, founded 30 years ago as Korea’s premier policy research organization, and the Korean government. Classes at the KDI School, which attracts students from Asia and around the world, are conducted in English. Approximately 40 percent of the student body is comprised of international students. As part of their two-year master’s course, KDI School students are required to spend one year at an overseas university.
