The oldest universities of Korea and the Netherlands have renewed their commitment to bilateral relations. On Dec. 1, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) welcomed a delegation from Leiden University led by Prof. Wim van den Doel, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, for an agreement-signing ceremony.

SKKU and Leiden University first established ties in July 2004, with the signing of an MOU by then SKKU President Seo Jung-don and Leiden University President A.W. Kist. A formal student exchange agreement was signed later on November 8, 2004.

Student exchange between SKKU and Leiden University has been persistent under the student exchange agreement, which allowed for a one-to-one exchange of up to two students from each partner university. In 2014, inbound Leiden students coming to SKKU ballooned rapidly with the introduction of a special Korean language program held annually in the spring semester. The spring 2014 semester at SKKU received a record 20 Leiden students for the program. Next semester, 33 students from Leiden are expected to attend the program. As well, SKKU's International Summer Semester (ISS) welcomed an additional 10 Leiden students for the short-term program this summer.

Founded in 1575, Leiden University consistently ranks as Continental Europe's best university in the arts and humanities. Leiden was ranked 64th in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2014 and 75th in the QS World University Rankings 2014. Leiden's alumni include Queens Juliana and Beatrix and King Willem-Alexander, and the university is associated with 10 prime ministers of the Netherlands, US President John Quincy Adams, physicist Albert Einstein, philosopher Rene Descartes, and painter Rembrandt.