About 50 Ecuadorian youths enrolled in universities from around the country took part in a seminar that was equal parts academic orientation and workshop on life in South Korea at the Ecuadorian Embassy in Seoul on Saturday.

The seminar, dubbed “Superior Education, Culture and Academic Life in Korea,” saw students from as far as Busan travel to the capital city to participate. Ecuadorian youths enrolled in such schools as Seoul National University; Yeungnam University in Gyeongsan City, North Gyeongsang Province; and Chonbuk National University in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, took part.

“The objective of the seminar is to consolidate the Ecuadorian student community in Korea. At the same time, welcome the incoming new students for the Spring Semester 2014,” the embassy said in a statement.

More than 90 percent of the Ecuadorian students in South Korea are enrolled in regular academic programs at either the undergraduate or graduate level.

Academic and research ties between South Korea and Ecuador are strengthening, because leaders in the South American nation see educational practices here as “a benchmark for the profound reform that tertiary education is undergoing in Ecuador,” according to the statement.

(ephilip2011@heraldcorp.com)