[Meet the President] Kyung Hee aims to nurture a new generation of global citizens

K-campus

Published: 17 Apr. 2022, 17:00 Updated: 03 Mar. 2023, 14:45

[Meet the President] Kyung Hee aims to nurture a new generation of global citizens

Hahn Kyun-tae, president of Kyung Hee University (KHU), poses outside the school’s iconic University Administration Building on the Seoul Campus in Dongdaemun District, eastern Seoul, late last month. [PARK SANG-MOON]

Globalization has been a core pursuit for many Korean universities in recent years as they seek to attract the brightest minds from all corners of the world. The presence of foreign students across college campuses comes at a crucial time for the country, as the dipping fertility rate is swiftly changing demographics and taking a toll on school systems. Last year, Korea hosted more than 150,000 international students despite the raging Covid-19 pandemic, mostly those from Asian countries with a passion for Korean culture and language who arrived for better career prospects. In the “Meet the President” series, the Korea JoongAng Daily asks the presidents of prominent Korean universities to introduce their schools and explain their globalization strategies. -Ed.

When Hahn Kyun-tae first attended class in the United States for a master’s in journalism, he instantly knew he would have a long, tough journey ahead of him. He could understand only 30 percent of the lecture, at best. Discussing with fellow students was unfathomable.

Anxious to keep up, Hahn asked his professors for permission to record their classes so that he could replay the tape when he got back home — however many times he needed, to understand what he left Korea for.

“Recorders back in the old days were gigantic,” Hahn chuckled. “I was the Asian kid who never asked any questions and just sat there in class with a huge recorder next to him, recording everything. The American students always gave me the weirdest looks.”

But Hahn never gave up.

His perseverance earned him a master’s and later a Ph.D. When Hahn returned to his homeland and began teaching at one of the nation’s finest universities, Kyung Hee, that experience gave him a reference point every time he saw a foreign student in the classroom.

Now, more than 30 years later, it gives him hope that the path of globalization he’s taking as president of Kyung Hee University (KHU) is not just some far-fetched illusion. Oftentimes, he references personal experience.

“Schools have to create a comfortable atmosphere for international students to allow them to naturally blend in,” said Hahn. “Professors must try to understand them as well, and think of things from their perspective.”

In a recent interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily on KHU’s Seoul Campus in Dongdaemun District, eastern Seoul, Hahn explained his school’s globalization strategy and what international students can expect once they enroll.

The following are edited excerpts of the conversation.

What is KHU’s globalization strategy?

As of 2021, there were more than 6,000 international students from nearly 80 countries attending Kyung Hee, making it the largest host of international students out of all Korean universities. We have three key pillars in our globalization strategy. One is that we provide unique educational programs focused on global citizenship and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations. The founder of this university long highlighted the importance of a harmonious community in which all living creatures coexist in peace, and by that, we try to teach our students the importance of cooperation and collaboration. The second pillar is that we try to diversify our admissions program for international students. As we go forward, we’re thinking about focusing more on applicants’ extracurricular activities and contribution to society rather than just screening them based on test scores. Third, we strive to boost international cooperation with other educational institutes, and, through that boosted cooperation, provide learning and training opportunities to our students.

An aerial view of part of the Seoul Campus [KHU]

How is KHU different from other Korean universities?

Our students are satisfied with the school. KHU ranked second among Korean private universities in the annual National Customer Satisfaction Index for five straight years from 2015 to 2019 and came in third in 2021. We’re also taking great leaps in multiple other rankings. We rose 256 ranks in the QS World University Rankings from 2007 to 2011. We were chosen as the second most international Korean university by The Times Higher Education [THE] Ranking in 2021 and received the third highest FWCI [field-weighted citation impact, which compares the number of citations received by an entity’s publications with the average] score among Korean universities that year. We’re also a university that makes contributions to the international society. We led efforts to establish the International Association of University Presidents (IAUP) in 1965 and played a leading role in the UN recognition of the International Day of Peace and the International Year of Peace in the 1980s.

Northern European students talk about their culture with Korean students on the school’s Northern Europe Day. [KHU]

What are some benefits provided to international students at KHU?

We offer various educational programs designed to improve our students’ cosmopolitan outlook, such as the Global Collaborative Summer Program. The program organizes lectures by professionals from international organizations such as the UN and provides various internship opportunities to students who wish to gain hands-on experience. We also offer Korean language classes and provide useful tips for job applications and interviews. If an international student struggles with their studies or an everyday life issue, they can consult their professors through our student-professor counseling program or talk it out with their Korean student mentors.

The interior of the Grand Peace Hall [KHU]

What’s KHU’s goal for globalization and what would the school campus look like once it achieves that goal?

When I first started teaching students at KHU in 1988, there weren’t many international students. Today, nearly 15 percent of the student body are foreigners, so their presence has become part of our everyday lives. Our goal is to see vibrant creativity unfold everywhere on the school campus and have globalization naturally be a part of every little step we take along our journey in education and research. We also hope to see students from numerous countries. Variety is key. Throughout the years, we had been focusing more on quantitative growth. Now, it’s time for qualitative growth, which will take some time.

What remains to be done to achieve that goal?

We have many plans in the works, one of which has to do with establishing a school on campus that exclusively hosts international students. We’re planning to create a course that blends humanities and natural sciences, enabling students to learn about a broad range of topics from AI and big data to semiconductors and Korean culture.

Students learn taekwondo during the Global Collaborative Summer Program. [KHU]

What’s your educational philosophy?

I hope to apply technology to education and set a new example for higher education institutions by converging science and humanities. In today’s rapidly changing world, the necessity and importance of humanities cannot be overemphasized. By expanding online learning opportunities and innovating our educational programs through convergence between different fields, I hope to foster talent who can come up with good ideas and solutions that are capable of sparking innovative change.

Engineering students use virtual reality (VR) technology in class. [KHU]

What would you like to say to students abroad who are considering studying in Korea?

At Kyung Hee University, not only will you have the chance to improve your Korean, experience Korean culture and learn more about your field of study, you will gain new skills required for the future society. You will learn how to self-reflect, how to communicate and collaborate with others who have different thoughts, how to build a better future and form harmony with other individuals, society, the world and nature to later grow into a global leader.

President's bio

Hahn Kyun-tae is the 16th president of Kyung Hee University and a professor of media. His four-year term as head of the school began in February 2020. Hahn has led numerous academic and administrative roles at Kyung Hee for nearly three decades. He served as vice president of Kyung Hee’s Seoul Campus and vice president of Kyung Hee’s external cooperation from 2014 to 2018; dean of Kyung Hee’s College of Politics and Economics from 2009 to 2014; and dean of Kyung Hee’s Graduate School of Journalism & Communication from 2003 to 2006. His roles off campus include director of the Korea University Sport Federation since 2020; auditor of the Foundation for Broadcast Culture from 2015 to 2018; and member of the Korea Press Foundation’s Public Fund Oversight Committee from 2014 to 2016.

About the university

Name of university
Kyung Hee University

Type
Private

Established
May 18, 1949

English slogan
Towards Global Eminence

Location
Seoul Campus: Dongdaemun District, eastern Seoul
Global Campus: Yongin, Gyeonggi
Gwangneung Campus: Namyangju, Gyeonggi

Campus size
1,691,385 square meters (417.95 acres)

Undergraduate colleges and departments
Colleges: 27
Schools and departments: 94

Graduate schools
15

Students (2021)
Undergraduates: 34,542
Postgraduates: 8,673
Total: 43,215

Academic staff (2021)
3,580

Administrative staff (2021)
1,152

Employment rate (2021)
66.3 percent

English website
www.khu.ac.kr/eng/

Social media
Facebook: www.facebook.com/khuniv
Instagram: @kyunghee_university
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/KyungHeeUniv

International students

Number of students (2021)
Undergraduates: 3,221
Postgraduates: 1,926
Short-term students (language learning, exchange program): 855
Total: 6,002

By country (2021)
China 79.2 percent
Japan 3.2 percent
Vietnam 3.1 percent
Other 14.5 percent (86 countries)

Department with the most international students (2021)
Management, media

Average tuition of self-funded undergraduates per semester (2022)
About 4.7 million won ($3,806) per semester

Dormitory acceptance rate (2021)
7.3 percent

BY LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]