University of Florida President Bernie Machen is visiting Asia this week to speak and explore international opportunities for the university.

Machen and other university officials are currently visiting South Korea to get information on a collaboration with several schools in establishing a Western-style university in that country. He said he would be meeting with government officials to discuss the project.

“We decided to go look at it and talk to those officials to see if we really can move forward,” he said.

UF officials have said the collaboration could be part of the university’s plans to expand its international presence beyond outposts in Beijing and Paris. Machen travels to UF’s Beijing Center later this week.

While in China he’ll also be visiting one of UF’s sister schools, Zhengzhou University, to deliver the commencement address and receive an honorary degree. Machen said the speech is going to be in English (“That’s all I can do,” he said with a laugh) and he’s unsure whether it would be translated into Chinese for the students.

“Most of the college students in China speak English,” he said. “It’s amazing how they’ve picked that up in the last 10 years.”