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By Itzhak Rabihiy

A series of agreements on academic cooperation was signed today, Wednesday 17 July / 14 Tammuz, between Israel academic institutions and their Korean counterparts in the presence of President Reuven (Ruvi) Rivlin. The agreements were signed at a conference attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Yoo Eun-hae and Chair of the Planning and Budgeting Committee of the Council for Higher Education Prof. Yaffa Zilbershats, who heads the Israeli academic delegation accompanying the president's visit. Later in the day, the President toured the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between South Korea and North Korea.

“For both South Korea, and Israel learning, education, and excellence are the highest goal. For both people, education lies at the heart of every family’s dream," the president said at the start of his remarks and continued: "For both people, education is the key for social and economic mobility. It is the power that drives forward not only individuals, but also the entire nation. Korean diligence and academic achievements have become a model for the entire world.”

“The key to our global connections, in Israel and in Korea, lies in higher education. Higher education is the key to mutual understanding, to universal solidarity to prosperity and peace. That is because science is blind to color, to nationality, to gender or to race,” he added.

The agreements signed include programs for student exchanges, joint research and cooperation in the areas of innovation, entrepreneurship and nanotechnology, including agreements between the Korean Ministry of Education and the Israeli Council of Higher Education; between KAST (Korean Academy of Science and Technology) and the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities; between the University of Korea and the University of Haifa, between the University of Korea and the Hebrew University, between Pusan University and the Hebrew University; between Konkuk University and the University of Haifa; between Konkuk University and Ben-Gurion University; between CNU and Bar Ilan University; between KISED and the Hebrew University; between Hanyang University and Ben-Gurion University; between Ajou University and the Technion; between Yonsei University and the Technion; between Yonsei Universit and the Hebrew University; between Yonsei University and Tel Aviv University and between Yonsei and Carmel, a company of the University of Haifa.

Later in the day, the president toured the DMZ between South Korea and North Korea. Upon his arrival, the President signed a brick in the wall signed by all world leaders who visit. Alongside the brick signed by the president, the hosts left an empty brick on which the name Nechama Rivlin ז"ל was written, dedicated to her memory. During the tour, the president heard a briefing by the forces operating in the area, toured the border area of the UN forces stationed there and observed North Korea.

"We're in one of the places in the world that is truly the mouth of a volcano. And yet the balance between the two forces means they ensure that hostility does not break out. The whole world is watching what happens, similar to the way it views the Middle East. Being here, you can see, learn and understand how volatile places can endanger global peace, "the president said at the North Korean observation point.

The Korean demilitarized zone Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) extends across the Korean peninsula and serves as a buffer zone between the two Koreas. It was created at the end of the Korean War in 1953 and is the most armed border in the world. Along it are sniper positions, mined areas, bunkers and barbed wire that prevent people from entering from north and south. The two countries have nearly two million soldiers, and around 37,000 American soldiers and a large group of UN observers are stationed in the South Korean region. The demilitarized zone has become a successful nature reserve: the DMZ has more than 1,100 plant species and 51 mammal species, which account for 67%.