Minister of Education, Science, and Technology Byong-man Ahn of Korea, South
Byong Man Ahn is an South Korean academic, and the former President of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.
Ahn received a UF Distinguished Alumnus Award in May 2005.
Ahn was born in Seoul, Korea and earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in law from Seoul National University in 1964 and 1967, respectively.
Ahn was a Fulbright Scholar in political science at the University of Delaware from 1981-1982 and a visiting professor at Harvard University from 1981-1993.
approach to language instruction and research in area studies.
30, 2005 with a UF Distinguished Alumnus Award.
Illustrating the main points of his lecture The Problem of North Korea in the 'Age of Terrorism' with slides, Ahn discussed the lasting political repercussions of both World War II and the Korean War, talked about the significance of North Korea's geographic location and chronicled the uneasy bonds that South Korea and China have tried to forge with the communist country in recent years.
When the United States discovered North Korea's counterfeiting operations and effected a unified trade freeze against North Korea, Ahn said that this action aggravated North Korea's desperate situation even more.
Since coming to UD as a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence more than 20 years ago, Ahn has served many times as a scholar in residence and visiting professor.
Ahn said the government plans to recruit assistant teachers from Singapore and other countries that adopt English as an official language as early as from December to meet the growing demands from parents for foreign English teachers.
Ahn received his doctorate in political science from UF in 1974 and was given the Distinguished Alumnus Award by UF in April 2005.
Ahn has written extensively on issues related to government, economics and culture, and is the author of “Elites and Political Power in South Korea” and other works.
Regarding concerns on qualifications of native English-speaking teachers, Ahn said 48 percent of them hold English-teaching licenses from their countries and the government is now working on developing better ways to attract more qualified foreign teachers.
As for the international middle schools plan in Seoul, which has invited strong opposition from teachers and parents groups, Ahn said those schools are needed for diversity of education.
krWho is Ahn Byeong-man?Minister Ahn has devoted most of his life to the academic field as a professor and president of universities before becoming education minister.