The Financial Times Reported/

Korea's Ivy League eyes inwards globalisation

By Anna Fifield in Seoul

In South Korea, having a degree from Seoul National or Korea University on one's resume will open doors in business and politics, and will establish social connections that will prove useful over a life time.

But outside South Korea, the names of the prestigious “SKY” universities – state Seoul National and private universities Korea and Yonsei – do not carry such cachet.

That, combined with the outwards stampede of Korean students to internationally recognised institutions in the US, is causing some dramatic reforms in the tertiary education sector, most notably the pursuit of “inwards globalisation” through the rapid adoption of English as the lingua franca of the classroom.

“We have to invite foreign service providers into Korea to increase the competitiveness of our service sector. You can't create a competitive edge if there is no competition,” says Euh Yoon-dae, president of Korea University and the architect of the boldest reforms in the conservative institution's history.

About a third of all classes across the university are conducted in English, from only 5 per cent when Prof Euh took over the helm three years ago, but he is hoping to increase that to 60 per cent by 2010 by requiring all newly-hired faculty to be able to teach in English, except in Korean studies.

This, the president hopes, will enable Korea to compete with other top Asian institutions, such as the National University of Singapore and Hong Kong University, although he has loftier aspirations of becoming the Korean equivalent of Harvard or Oxford.

Other top universities are also embracing English. At Yonsei, 19 per cent of classes are taught in English and it has opened Underwood International College, where liberal arts are taught entirely in English. Meanwhile, at Seoul National, 10 per cent of liberal arts classes are taught in English.

But Korea University has been the most aggressive in making the change to English, a transition propelled by its summer school, the International Summer Campus programme, where the 2006 classes have just started.

Almost 100 classes – ranging from business ethics and international security to Korean art history and Latin American civilisation – are taught by Korean and visiting professors. Last year the most popular course was an introduction to psychology taught by Paul Bloom of Yale.

With fees of about $2,500 to take three classes over the summer, the university says it is comparatively cheap as well.

“We want to be an international rather than a domestic university so we are going to use this phenomenon to create a competitive edge,” Prof Euh says, boasting that Yale University's summer school attracts 1,200 freshman, a number that Korea is soon set to overtake.

From the elaborate concrete buildings with turrets and flags to the immaculately manicured lawns, Korea University certainly looks like the country's answer to America's Ivy League.

But when it started in 2004, the summer school had only 150 international and 130 Korean students, and only 10 of the 500 American university professors approached responded to its request for teachers.

But growth has since been exponential. This year 931 students from abroad – including 88 from Wisconsin-Madison and 56 from Michigan State universities – will join 254 students who live in Korea at the summer school.

The school is hoping to attract 2,000 international students and 100 faculty next year, says Yeom Jae-ho, a professor of public administration and head of the summer school.

“Many US and UK university students are becoming increasingly interested in Asian countries and Asian societies, so they can come to Korea for the summer and be immersed in Korean culture at the same time as receiving a globalised education,” Prof Yeom says.

“We have good quality classes, professors from Princeton and Yale, and top class facilities with state-of-the-art classrooms,” he says. The ultra-modern business school features a swanky glass atrium and high-tech study rooms, alongside museums displaying Korean artifacts.

About 30 per cent of the students are Korean-Americans, many of whose parents want them to experience a slice of Korea, while a similar proportion are Koreans who have gone to the US for university. The remainder come from as far as China, Australia, Poland, the UK, and even one from Burma.

To immerse the students in Korean society – corporate and cultural – the school organises day trips to places such as the heavily fortified Demilitarised Zone that separates North and South Korea, and offers a popular internship programme. This year 130 students applied for 45 positions in offices including the National Assembly, Hynix Semiconductor and SK Telecom.

“There are very large Korean ethnic groups in the US and it is very competitive to enter big corporations in the US but they really want some career experience so this is a good chance for them to work in Korean companies,” Prof Yeom says.

It is also a chance to create the kinds of bonds that last a lifetime in Korea. School and university networks form the basis of future professional relationships but Koreans who study abroad often miss out on forming these relationships, so the university is offering membership of its influential alumni network to students who participate in the summer school for two consecutive years.

“Networks and building connections are very, very important in Korea but Koreans who study abroad miss out on that,” Prof Yeom says. “We don't want them to become ‘orphans' in the US.”