Established in 1991, Korea University's Graduate School of International Studies (KUGSIS) is a leading academic institution in educating and nurturing young experts specialized in international affairs. Since its beginning, KUGSIS has been preparing students to serve as productive members of their organizations and play leadership roles in the international community.
Students at KUGSIS—whether they specialize in International Commerce, International Development & Cooperation, International Peace & Security, Area Studies, or Korean Studies—engage a curriculum that offers a mixture of theoretical frameworks for defining the pressing issues facing firms, cities, nations, regions, and the globe and the practical tools required to formulate policies and strategies to address those issues. An array of special programs bolsters the all-English curriculum. One of these is the Graduate Program of Area Studies (GPAS), which has been funded by the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) since 2007 and provides travel and research support and ongoing lectures by regional experts. Since 2012, GSIS has also been a member of the Collective Action on Mobility Program for University Students (CAMPUS) Asia Program on the topic of risk management, which is funded by the Ministries of Education in Korea, Japan, and China and offers students local resources and opportunities to study at partner institutions. The school also recently launched another area studies program, the EU Center Program, which will support European policy students.
KUGSIS's curriculum is taught by an international faculty educated at some of the world's finest educational institutions. Many of our faculty have been active shapers of international and domestic policy through their roles as consultants and officials in the Korean government, international institutions, and NGOs. This offers our students a wealth of concrete experiences, insights, and access to such organizations' inner workings.
As part of Korea University, one of Korea's oldest and highest-ranking universities, GSIS has access to an immense range of resources throughout the university. The university has a global network of research and study exchanges with 744 partner universities in 78 countries, including University 21, a network of 18 leading universities in nine countries that promotes international student exchange programs. Our students can also augment KUGSIS's curriculum by taking advantage of the university's 81 departments in 19 colleges and 18 graduate schools and research and policy centers like the Asiatic Research Institute, the Korean Cultural Research, and the UNDP Seoul Policy Center.
Our program is further enriched through its location in one of the world's most economically and socially dynamic countries. Situated at East Asia's geographical heart, Korea represents one of the prime examples of rapid economic development in the late 20th century. It is now looking to apply its experience and knowledge to the developing world today. Its firms have become some of the world's most influential in the growth process, and its social organization has undergone a compressed and extensive transformation into modernity and perhaps beyond. And all this has taken place in the face of unrelenting political and military tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
As crucial as KUGSIS's curriculum, programs, and faculty are the students that constitute the program's core. Our students bring their own experiences from all corners of the world. Roughly half of our student body is Korean, and a half from other countries, including China, the U.S., Germany, Uzbekistan, Japan, Palestine, Ecuador, Rwanda, Finland, Bolivia, Ghana, Indonesia, Canada, and Thailand, to name only a few. After combining their abilities with GSIS's demanding curriculum, some of our students have gone on to employment in international organizations such as the UNESCO, UNFCCC, UNESCAP, development institutions such as KOICA or the Korean Development Bank, government research institutes such as KIEP, KIDS, KIE, and GGGI, public utility companies related to water and energy, NGOs such as the Beautiful Foundation and Humanasia, and various multinational companies in finance, trading, and manufacturing.
GSIS of Korea University offers interdisciplinary programs that encompass many International Development & Cooperation, International Commerce, International Peace & Security, Regional Studies, and Korean Studies. The interdisciplinary nature of GSIS means that the program is intimately linked with other programs within Korea University and other programs at leading universities overseas. Accordingly, GSIS of Korea University offers, among others, dual degrees in overseas affiliated institutions, internship programs, summer programs abroad, and executive programs for corporate clients. Such exciting opportunities await high caliber students from all parts of the world at Korea University GSIS.
