Korea University (고려대학교) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1905, it is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the country. Korea University is consistently ranked as one of the top three universities in South Korea. It is also home to one of the nation’s most competitive medical schools.
Korea University was founded by Lee Young-Ik, an educator and statesman who served as the first Prime Minister of the Korean Empire under Emperor Gojong. The university began with two colleges: Humanities and Commerce. In 1911, a third college, Law, was added; followed by a fourth college, Medicine, in 1926. These four colleges formed the core of Korea University today.
The campus buildings were designed by renowned American architect George Washington Foster and completed around 1920. The main gate on Anam-dong still bears his name. In 1931, Pyongyang Normal School became affiliated with Korea University; this marked the beginning of higher education in North Korea.
During Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945), many Korean intellectuals studied at Japan’s leading universities such as Tokyo Imperial University and Kyoto Imperial University; upon their return to Korea they took up teaching positions at institutions such as Ewha Womans University and Severance Hospital Medical School (now Yonsei University). As a result of this brain drain, few Koreans received a formal education during this time period; this had profound effects on Korean society after liberation from Japanese rule in 1945 when democracy and modernization were advocated by leaders such as Syngman Rhee who himself had studied at Princeton University in America before returning to take up the presidency of what would become South Korea.
It wasn’t until 1956 that another Korean president – Dr Heo Jeong – would be educated overseas again when he attended Harvard Business School.. Today approximately 60% of all Korean students study abroad at some point during their university careers; indeed many Koreans view studying overseas as essential for success especially given the highly competitive job market withinSouth Korea itself where multinational companies are increasingly looking for employees who have international experience.. For those students unable or unwilling to study abroad there are now dozens of foreign universities which have opened campuses within South Korea itself including Duke KunshanUniversity which opened its doorsin 2014.. Such moves provide greater opportunities for Koreans to gain international experience without havingto leave their homeland..
Korea today is very different fromthe impoverished nation it was following liberation from Japanese rule seven decades ago.. Since then it has achieved remarkable economic growth becoming known as ‘The Miracle onthe Han River’ due largely to developmental strategies pursued by successive governments including Park Chung Hee’s 5-Year Economic Development Plan(1962-1967)and Kim Dae Jung’s ‘New Community Movement'(1998-2002) bothof which placed great emphasis on investment in heavy industry and export promotion respectively.. As aresultSouth Koreatoday hasthe 12th largest economyin terms world GDPand is classified as being partof themiddle income trapas definedbythe World Bankwith a GNI per capita US$27,860 placingit just outsideof theeurozoneon purchasing power parity basis accordingto 2016 datafromthe International Monetary Fund…