Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has announced the New Colombo Plan will be rolled-out in more than 35 locations across the Indo-Pacific from January 2015, including the Republic of Korea.

Ms Bishop described the New Colombo Plan as: "one of the most transformative foreign policy initiatives that Australia has embraced".

She continued "Australia's New Colombo Plan, like the original historic Colombo Plan from the 1950s, is all about building people-to-people links and networks and friendships and engagement that will last a lifetime, not only be a marvellous experience for the individual student, the young leaders of tomorrow who will spend time living and studying and importantly having a work experience overseas, but then they'll come back to Australia with new perspectives, new ideas, new insights, new understandings, new language skills. They'll add to the productivity and prosperity of our country, but so much more importantly, they'll be part of generations of young Australians interacting with young people in countries in our region. And that kind of connection is gold."

The Australia-Korea Foundation encourages those familiar with Korea and those teaching Australian students interested in Korea to support universities to open the way for exciting study opportunities in Korea through New Colombo Plan Scholarships and Mobility Program Grants.

Useful information is available on the Australia-Korea Foundation's new "Study in Korea" webpage, including:

• a link to the Korean Government's informative site for foreign students;
• direct links to 12 Korean universities' websites for foreign students; and
• information provided by recent AKF scholarship awardees and interns about study and life in Korea in the form of blogs and videos.

Korea has welcomed this Australian Government initiative, and was one of the first countries to opt into the broader roll-out of the program from 2015. Approximately 60 scholarships and $8 million in mobility grants will be offered in 2015 to support Australian undergraduate students.

The AKF looks forward to an increasing number of Australians studying in Korea over coming years with the support of the New Colombo Plan.

Further information:

• New Colombo Plan
• Minister Bishop's address to 2015 New Colombo Plan Launch
• AKF's Study in Korea webpage