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A program allowing up to 5,000 Korean students every year to study English in the U.S. and get a paid internship there for 18 months is to get underway next year. Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan signed a memorandum of understanding on the Work, English, Study, Travel (WEST) program with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington on Monday.
¡ß What is WEST?
The U.S. is implementing the WEST program in Korea for the first time, targeting Korean students and recent graduates. Participants will study English for five months at their own expense, work as interns for up to 12 months, and travel in the U.S. for a month.
Criteria for their selection will include regional distribution, distribution among universities, and English test scores. The government is also considering ways to provide loans for students from low-income backgrounds.
¡ß How to work in the U.S.
Once selected, students have to decide through about 70 recommending agencies registered with the U.S. State Department where to study English and where to work, and submit detailed plans to the U.S. Embassy when applying for visas. There are no restrictions on companies or organizations where the internships can be done.
A Foreign Ministry official said, "We're going to ask American enterprises which have invested in Korea and Korean companies in the U.S. to give students as many internship opportunities as possible."
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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