The Midshipmen were hosted by the Korean American Midshipmen Association, an academy program led by Midshipman 1st Class Warren Choi, the association’s treasurer. Spending seven days in the area, they experienced academy life, visited Washington, D.C., and attended the Forrestal Lecture given by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

‘‘I think the most beneficial aspect of exchange programs such as this is that they allow midshipmen to broaden their perspectives on cultures throughout the world,” said Choi.

The Korean mids, who said that they have never visited the U.S. before, were very excited to have this experience.

Along with a bit of the culture shock with visiting a foreign country, the midshipmen noted that the size and independence at the academy was much different than at the Korean Naval Academy.

‘‘It’s a lot bigger here,” said ROKN Midshipman 2nd Class Jeong Hoon Seol, one of the Korean midshipmen visiting. ‘‘It’s very different from our academy.”

The visit as a whole gave both the American and Korean mids a chance to network, make friends and share their respective cultures, a beneficial part to any junior officer’s development.

‘‘I’ve had many chances to make new friends and connections,” said Kang. ‘‘Since we might be counterparts in the future, this is a beneficial trip.”

ROKN Midshipman 2nd Class Pil Kyeong Ko also said that this experience has opened his eyes to our culture, and after visiting here, he would definitely like to come back.

‘‘Even such a short exposure to each others’ institutional culture gave us a greater depth in understanding each other’s perspective,” said Choi. ‘‘Such relationships among its military leaders would aid in any cooperatives the two countries will have in the future.”

Programs like this enable both foreign and domestic mids to realize that although they are in various parts of the world, they are not so different from each other.

‘‘This was an invaluable, personal experience that could not be adequately communicated through a lecture or book,” said Choi.