Puan Maharani Will Be Awarded The Honoris Causa Doctorate From The South Korean PKNU Tomorrow

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Puan Maharani. (Ist)

JAKARTA - DPR Speaker Puan Maharani will receive a Honoris Causa Doctor's degree from Pukyong National University (PKNU), South Korea. Puan was given an honorary doctorate in Political Science from the campus located in Busan City thanks to her dedication so far.

Puan's inauguration as Honoris Causa Doctor from PKNU will be held at the PKNU College Theater on Monday, November 7, 2022. A total of 300 invited guests will attend the event.

Currently Puan has arrived in Busan. He and his mother who is also the 5th President of the Republic of Indonesia, Megawati Soekarnoputri arrived in South Korea on Sunday, November 6 morning.

The arrival of Puan and Megawati was welcomed by the Indonesian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (LBBP) to South Korea, Gandi Sulistiyanto.

Gandi said that Puan would be the successor to the Soekarno route, which maintains good relations between the Indonesian people and South Korea. As is known, the relationship between the 1st President of the Republic of Indonesia and Korea is very close.

"Bung Karno is highly respected by the Korean nation. The legacy that Bung Karno left was continued by Bu Mega, and now Mrs. Puan will continue," said Gandi in a written statement, Sunday, November 6.

Gandi said that the Soekarno family was not only respected by South Korea but also by North Korea. This is because Bung Karno during his lifetime was quite close to the founder of North Korea, Kim Il-Sung.

Ma'am Mega di Korea itu ditempatikan, karena beliau dianggap bisa menjadi jembatan antara Korea Selatan dan Korea Utara. Bu Mega dianggap sebagai tokoh persyamatan, jelas Gandi.

Megawati was once a special envoy for the President of South Korea to go to North Korea in carrying out peace diplomacy. Gandi said Megawati often conveyed messages from South Korea to North Korea.

Mrs. Mega can easily enter North Korea to help as a communicator. Not all other heads of state can do that. The legacy of the Soekarno family here is a bridge between North and South Korea, although it is not easy," he explained.

Thanks to his peace diplomacy, Megawati received the title of honorary professor from the Seoul Institute of the Arts (SIA). Megawati also received honoris causa doctorates from several universities in Korea.

Therefore, the awarding of the Honoris Causa Doctor's degree from PKNU for Puan is considered to strengthen Indonesia's relations with South Korea. The awarding of the honorary title will also widen the cooperation between the two countries' education.

"Giving a title to Mrs. Puan will encourage more Indonesian students to study in South Korea, including the possibility of scholarships," said Gandi.

The Indonesian Embassy in Seoul noted that there are currently around 1,700 Indonesian students in South Korea, even though there are around 72 thousand students from ASEAN in South Korea. Gandi said, Indonesia is a world market potential for South Korea.

The influence of Korea in Indonesia is so fast because Korean Waves are like K-Drama, K-Pop, Korean food Food. Indonesia is the second largest connoisseur of K-Drama in the world, after Korea itself. This is the world market," he said.

Gandi assessed that Indonesia must take advantage of these conditions. Apart from the economic sector, cooperation in the field of education between Indonesia and South Korea needs to be improved so that the possibility of technology transfer is greater.

Indonesia and South Korea need each other. South Korea's economic progress requires the Indonesian market. Indonesia needs technology transfer. Meanwhile, South Korea needs Indonesian workers considering that South Korea is in the aging population period," said Gandi.