-The Minsitry of Education (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, KIM Sang-kon) announced the successful hosting of the 6th Asia-Europe Education Ministerial Meeting (ASEMME6) in Korea from 21-22 November 2017 under the key theme, "Collaboration for the Next Decade: From Common Perspective to Effective Fulfillment."

This year, Ministers and Vice Ministers from 19 countries including Switzerland, Ireland, Laos, Slovakia, China, Mongolia, Japan, and Russia as well as 220 participants from 44 ASEM partners and 10 institutions came together.

-The aim of the Ministerial Meeting was to find ways to cooperate in the field of education to expand and facilitate youth employability and Asia-Europe mobility (e.g., students, professors) in the face of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

In particular, Korea held ASEMME6 in celebration of its 10th year, and proposed the 'Seoul Declaration' and the 'ASEM MOOC Initiative' to be at the forefront of Asia-Europe education process.

-During the press conference, KIM Sang-kon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, addressed the outcome of ASEMME6 with Ministers from Ireland and Indonesia.

-In particular, he announced one of the substantial outcomes of the Meeting, the adoption of the 'Seoul Declaration' which delineates youth employability, Asia-Europe mobility, MOOC intiative, and so forth.

He also noted that instability in the job market is increasing in the face of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and indicated the importance of strengthening lifelong education and vocational education.

In addition, ASEM partners agreed to endeavour facilitating cooperation through mobility, promoting the link between and within Asia and Europe in the next ten years, and to work together towards recognition of credits and degrees to promote student exchanges.

Richard Bruton, Minister from Ireland, expressed his appreciation to the Korean Minsitry of Education for the successful launch of ASEMME6 and indicated, "I believe that we need effective collaboration on the basis of the past 10 years of Asia-Europe cooperation."

-ASEM partners agreed to build various channels to continue education cooperation between and within Asia and Europe, and welcomed the adoption of the 'ASEM MOOC Initiative' proposed by Korea, which addressed the call for online education to boost international cooperation in the field of education.

The 'ASEM MOOC Initiative' is imperative as it is the only MOOC platform that pursues cooperation through online education between and within countries and regions.

ASEM partners agreed on the view that ICT could reduce the education gap between countries and/or regions as an innovative tool, and noted their aspiration to promote Asia-Europe online education cooperation through the 'ASEM MOOC Initiative.'

-KIM Sang-kon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education said, "education and training in the next ten years will be prominent in enhancing youth employability. The Korean Ministry of Education will endeavour to invigorate education cooperation between and within Asia and Europe through the 'Seoul Declaration' and the 'ASEM MOOC Initiative.'

*unofficial translation