Ewha Womans University established a social welfare center in Cambodia to provide education to underprivileged children and women, according to the school on Wednesday.

The school became the first education institute in Korea to build a social welfare and education center overseas.

The Ewha Social Service center in Phnom Penh is expected to run education programs for children from low-income families, computer courses for women and workers, and projects that can contribute to the development of local neighborhoods.

The programs to be provided by the center include after-school classes, culture programs for children, and language and computer programs for women.

“Cambodia and Korea have sad memories of genocide, the brutal Khmer Rouge and the Korean War, respectively. Korea has overcome social and economic hardships after the war, and I think we have a lot to offer to Cambodians, which will improve their lives,” Nho Choong-rai, a social welfare professor at the university, said at the opening ceremony on Feb. 21, according to the school.

The ceremony was also attended by Graduate School of Social Welfare Dean Kim Mi-hye, Shinhan Khmer Bank CEO Lee Jae-joon, Woosuk Scholarship Foundation Chairman Han In-jong and Cambodian officials who contributed to the establishment of the center.

Ewha has volunteered education and medical services in Cambodia before.

Former biology professor Kim Gil-hyun and his wife have devoted their life to education and missionary work in Cambodia since 2005 after he moved to teach at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, the school said.

By Lee Woo-young  (wylee@heraldcorp.com)