South Korea is known as one of the four “Asian Tiger” economies, with an economy based on its fast-growing education, tech and tourism sectors.

More and more students are choosing to study in South Korea, and the country has recently seen dramatic increases in foreign enrolments – from 11,000 in 2001 to more than 89,000 in 2011.

The government has announced a plan to increase foreign enrolment to 200,000 by 2032 and is working hard to encourage even more students from America, Europe, and Asia to study abroad in South Korea. If you’re considering studying in South Korea, here below you can find the most popular university in South Korea!

SEOUL UNIVERSITY

Some info

• Motto: Veritas lux mea (Latin)
• Motto in English: The truth is my light
• Type: Public
• Established: 1946
• President: Sung Nak-in
• Academic staff: 5,511
• Students: 27,986
• Undergraduates: 16,496
• Postgraduates: 11,490
• Doctoral students: 3,423
• Location Gwanak, Seoul, South Korea
• Campus Urban, 4.2 km2 (1037 acres)
• Colors: blue
• Mascot: Crane, Zelkova Tree
• Website www.snu.ac.kr

Founded in 1946, Seoul National University is the most prestigious university in the country. It is located on three campuses: the main campus is in Gwanak and two additional campuses in Daehangno and Pyeongchang. The university comprises sixteen colleges, one graduate school, and nine professional schools.

The student body consists of nearly 17,000 undergraduate and 11,000 graduate students. According to data compiled by KEDI, the university spends more on its students per capita than any other university in the country that enrolls at least 10,000 students.
Seoul National University holds a memorandum of understanding with over 700 academic institutions in 40 countries, the World Bank and a general academic exchange program with the University of Pennsylvania.

KOREA UNIVERSITY

• Former names: Bosung College (1905-1921); Bosung Professional College (1922-1945)
• Motto: Libertas, Justitia, Veritas (자유, 정의, 진리)
• Motto in English: “Liberty, Justice, Truth”
• Type: Private
• Established: May 5, 1905
• President: Yeom Jaeho
• Academic staff: 5,225 (2016)
• Students: 28,431 (2016, Seoul Campus)
• Location: Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Campus: Urban
• Colors: Crimson
• Athletics: Football, Rugby, Baseball, Basketball, Ice Hockey
• Mascot: Tiger
• Website: www.korea.edu (English); www.korea.ac.kr (Korean)

Korea University is one of the nation’s oldest and most prominent institutions of higher education.

The student body consists of over 20,000 undergraduate students and over 10,000 graduate students.

The university’s academic breadth is broad with its 81 departments in 19 colleges and divisions, as well as 18 graduate schools. It has over 1,500 full-time faculty members with over 95% of them holding Ph.D. or equivalent qualification in their field. The Korea University Alumni Association consists of more than 280,000 university graduates.

Korea University is a large research institution, notable in South Korean history for being the first educational institution to offer academic programs in Korea in various disciplines, such as law, economics and journalism.It is particularly well known for its College of Law, which is widely considered to be one of the most well-known undergraduate law programs in South Korea.

Korea University also has auxiliary educational facilities such as the Institute of Foreign Language Studies, the Institute for Continuing Education, the Institute of International Education and the Center for Teaching and Learning. There are 115 research institutes, including the Battelle@KU Laboratory, the Ilmin International Relations Institute and the Center for Information Security Technologies.

YONSEI UNIVERSITY

• Motto: The truth will set you free. (John 8:32)
  진리가 너희를 자유케 하리라.
• Type: Private
• Affiliation: Christianity
• President: Yong-Hak Kim
• Location: Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Campus: Urban
• Colours: Royal blue
• Mascot: Eagle
• Website: www.yonsei.ac.kr/en_sc/

Yonsei University is one of Korea’s three SKY universities, considered the most prestigious in the country. Yonsei was established in 1885 and is the oldest university in South Korea.

The student body consists of 26,731 undergraduate students, 11,994 graduate students, 4,518 faculty members, 6,788 staff, and 257,931 alumni. Yonsei operates its main campus in Seoul and has extensive programs in Korean and English.

The university was established in January 1957 through the union of Yonhi College and Severance Union Medical College. This was a result of a lasting bilateral cooperation between the colleges that began in the 1920s. The institutions were new to Korea at the time of their inception. Yonhi College was one of the first modern colleges, founded as Chosun Christian Colleg in March 1915. Severance has its roots in the first modern medical center in Korea, Gwanghyewon, founded in April, 1885.

As a tribute, the name ‘Yonsei’ was derived from the first syllables of the names of its two parent institutions, ‘Yon’ from Yonhi College and ‘Sei’ from Severance Union Medical College.

In the symbol of Yonsei University is a shield.

In the shield, ‘ㅇ’ means sky, ‘ㅡ’ means land and ‘ㅅ’ means human. On the left side of ‘ㅇ’, the book is the truth; on the right side, the torch is the freedom. The shield defends these two ideas.