The Ford School hosted Kim Dong Yeon (MPP ‘91, PhD ‘93), governor of the Gyeonggi province — the largest province in South Korea. His visit to Ann Arbor included signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the University that will send South Korean students to campus this summer, and delivering the 11th annual Sang-Yong Nam lecture, sponsored by the LSA Nam Center for Korean Studies and co-sponsored by the Ford School's International Policy Center. The trip also included a meeting with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in Detroit.
At Weill Hall, he met with Dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes and reunited with his economics professor, Ford School’s emeritus professor Alan Deardorff, whom he credited with much of his success studying at the University.
Governor Kim was accompanied by the Vice-Chair of the Gyeonggi Assembly, Kyung Soon Nam, and the province’s head of international relations, Daejong Yoo, as well as many members of the South Korean press.
Governor Kim has served as a Korean government official since 2014. After serving as Minister of Economy and Finance and Deputy Prime Minister, he took office as governor on July 1, 2022.
He told Watkins-Hayes that he hopes to be able to continue the relationship between his province and the Ford School long into the future.
