The University of Pennsylvania has announced a $7.5 million gift from alumni in support of its Korean Studies Program along with the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Seoul National University to facilitate collaborative research projects and other academic activities.

Alumnus James Joo-Jin Kim gave $6 million to the Korean Studies Program, which will be renamed in his honor, while an anonymous alumnus gave $1.5 million to create a postdoctoral fellowship in the program. Under the memorandum of understanding, a Penn-in-Seoul program in which Penn students take classes at SNU and participate in private- and public-sector internships will be revived this July.

Penn's School of Arts and Sciences, School of Engineering and Applied Science, and School of Dental Medicine collaborate on research projects and have formal academic exchange agreements with SNU. The Wharton School also has an informal relationship with SNU's Graduate School of Business. Korea is the third-largest country of origin for international students at Penn, who comprise about 11 percent of all international students on the campus.

"We are pleased to partner with Korea's oldest national university — and one of its most eminent — and to build on the many successful faculty and academic partnerships we already share," said Penn president Amy Gutmann. "Joo-Jin Kim's generosity will enable us to expose an even wider community of students to Korea — by weaving an understanding and appreciation of the country into the fabric of academic life at Penn."