Hankuk University of Foreign Studies

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Hankuk University of Foreign Studies
한국외국어대학교 [1]
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies emblem.png
Motto
Veritas, Pax, Creatio
Motto in English
"Truth, Peace, Creation"
Type Private research university
Established1954;71 years ago (1954)
FounderKim Heung-bae
President Park Jeong-Woon
Academic staff
613
Students27,351
Undergraduates 23,661
Postgraduates 3,690
Address
서울특별시 동대문구 이문로 107 (107 Imun-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul)
경기도 용인시 처인구 모현읍 외대로81 (81 Oedae-ro, Mohyeon-eup, Cheoin-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do)
, ,
South Korea

37°33′53″N126°56′22″E / 37.564771°N 126.939358°E / 37.564771; 126.939358
CampusSeoul Campus (located in Seoul)
Global Campus (located in Yongin)
Colors   Bluish-green
Website www.hufs.ac.kr
Korean name
Hangul
한국외국어대학교
Hanja
韓國外國語大學校
Revised Romanization Hanguk Oegugeo Daehakgyo
McCune–Reischauer Han'guk Oegugŏ Taehakkyo

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (abbreviated as HUFS; Korean : 한국외국어대학교) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea. The university currently teaches 45 foreign languages. In addition, it contains studies in humanities, law, political science, social sciences, business, medical science, natural sciences, and engineering.

Contents

Main Building of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Seoul Campus.jpg
Main Building of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS)

History

In April 1954, HUFS was founded as a college for studying foreign languages in by Kim Heung-bae with its first students studying English, French, Chinese, German, Spanish and Russian.

Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski giving a lecture at Hankuk University, October 2013. KOCIS Korea HUFS Poland President Lecture 06 (10470755874).jpg
Polish President Bronisław Komorowski giving a lecture at Hankuk University, October 2013.

In 2012, U.S President Barack Obama, during his visit to Korea, spoke at Hankuk University in Seoul about global progress toward nuclear non-proliferation. [2]

Throughout its history, the university has been visited by numerous foreign dignitaries, including Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, [3] Joko Widodo of Indonesia, [4] Viktor Orban of Hungary, [5] Abdullah Gul of Turkey, [6] Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj of Mongolia, [7] Bronislaw Komorowski of Poland, [8] and many others.

Education

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies has over 50 departments covering Social Sciences, Eastern European Studies, Humanities, Asia-African Studies, and Natural Sciences. The university contributes to regional studies, with graduate courses in international and regional studies.

Since 2004 the closely associated Cyber Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, based at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, has been offering online courses in English, Japanese and Mandarin Chinese, as well as business administration, journalism, and mass communication.

HUFS runs a foreign language examination system (FLEX). The FLEX Center is developing examinations for 19 languages in addition to the seven languages currently administered (English, French, German, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese). It plans for 26 languages more. [9]

As of October 2014, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies has academic exchange program agreements with 431 universities and 139 institutions throughout 88 nations. [10]

Academic reputation

University rankings
JoongAng National [11] Domestic =18
QS National [12] General 21
QS Asia
(Asia version) [13]
General =124
QS World [14] General 651–660
USNWR World [15] General =1705

HUFS regularly ranks among the top universities in South Korea, especially in the fields of humanities and social sciences. [16]

In 2020, eight HUFS students passed the Korean diplomat bar exam, the second most in the country behind only Seoul National University. [17] [18] In 2019, the school ranked third in the country with six successful examinees. [19]

FLEX

Under the foreign language certification system, students who have double majors are required to achieve certain scores on the FLEX (Foreign Language EXamination) test for graduation, apart from graduation certification. In principle, students need to receive certification on their proficiency in foreign language.

There are many languages in FLEX, including English, Chinese, Japanese, German, French, Russian, Spanish, Italian, Turkish, Indian languages, Vietnamese, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Polish, Dutch and so on.

Law School

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies has a school of law, making it one of the 25 universities in Korea which have a law school.

Graduate School of TESOL

HUFS Graduate School of TESOL is divided into two concentrations: the Department of English Language Teaching and the Department of ELT Contents Development. [20] The program offers late afternoon and evening courses for working students who are unable to attend classes during the day.

Other fields

Campus

The university is composed of two campuses, the Seoul Campus located in Imun-dong of Seoul, and the Global Campus in Yongin. [21]

The Seoul Campus is focused on major languages, humanities, and social sciences, while the Global Campus teaches additional languages not provided in Seoul, namely Polish, Romanian, Czech, Slovakian, Hungarian, Serbian, Croatian, Ukrainian, Greek, Bulgarian, Central Asian languages (Kazakh and Uzbek) and African languages (such as Swahili), as well as engineering and natural sciences.

The university is currently planning on building a third campus focused on artificial intelligence and big data in Songdo International Business District, after having secured 300 billion won in investment funding from Korea Investment & Securities, Hyundai Engineering & Construction, and ZINOL D&C. [22]

College divisions

Seoul Campus

Global Campus

Graduate school

Graduate School of Interpretation and Translation

The Graduate School of Interpretation and Translation (GSIT) is a postgraduate education institution specializing in the education of professional conference interpreters and translators.

Founded in 1979 in response to the growing demand for international language specialists, GSIT currently offers master's degree courses in interpretation/translation in eight different languages: English, French, German, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese and Arabic. GSIT created the nation's first doctoral program in interpretation/translation in November 1999, to help stimulate research activities in the discipline, and has awarded 26 Ph.D. degrees as of 2012. It became the first Asian education institution to join CIUTI (Conférence Internationale Permanente d'Instituts Universitaires de Traducteurs et Interprètes) in 2004. GSIT is equipped with an international conference hall which provides for simultaneous interpretation services in eight different languages, lecture halls equipped with simultaneous interpretation booths, multimedia classrooms, group study rooms, a satellite broadcast resources center which provides access to 110 channels in 30 languages, a library, and a computer lab.

Graduate School of International and Area Studies (GSIAS)

The GSIAS has concluded numerous MOUs and cooperative relationships with institutions within and outside Korea, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT), the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST), the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), the National Research Fund (NRF), the Seoul Development Institute (SDI), etc., to carry out various research projects. It also created in early 2010 a GSIAS-affiliated think-tank, named the Center for International Cooperation and Strategy (CICS), aimed at facilitating policy-relevant research activities and outreach programs. The Center hosted a major international conference in June 2010 under the title "Towards an East Asian Community: Why and How?" In December 2010, CICS organized a high-level Korea-Middle East Forum in Cairo jointly with the Al-Ahram Institute for Strategic Studies and MOFAT.

Additional educational organizations

Ranking

In the QS Ranking 2024, the university was ranked 575th in the world.

Notable alumni

Politics, government and public service

Academia

Business

Entertainment

Hostage

Literature

References

  1. Abbreviations of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Korean: (한국) 외대((韓國) 外大; Hanguk Oedae). In English: HUFS
  2. "President Obama Speaks at Hankuk University". The White House. Archived from the original on 2024-03-04. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
  3. "Swedish Princess visiting HUFS" . Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  4. "Indonesian President delivers lecture at HUFS". Archived from the original on 2023-10-05. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  5. 한국외대, 27일 빅토르 오르반 헝가리 총리 특강 진행 . Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  6. 한국외대, 터키 대통령에게 명예 정치학박사학위 수여. Archived from the original on 2023-10-05. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  7. "Mongolian President receives honorary doctorate from HUFS". Archived from the original on 2023-10-05. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  8. "President of Poland gives lecture at HUFS as guest speaker of honor" . Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  9. FLEX, http://builder.hufs.ac.kr/user/hufsenglish/ac_5.jsp
  10. exchange program agreements, http://www.hufs.ac.kr/user/hufsenglish/index.html Archived 2011-01-14 at the Wayback Machine , viewed 05/08/2008
  11. "The JoongAng University Rankings 2024". JoongAng Ilbo. 2024. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  12. "QS University Rankings 2025". Top Universities. 2025. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  13. "QS World University Rankings: Asia 2025". QS Quacquarelli Symonds Limited. 2025. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  14. "QS World University Rankings". QS Quacquarelli Symonds Limited. 2025. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  15. U.S. News & World Report (2024). "2024-2025 Best Global Universities Rankings" . Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  16. 한국외대 사회계열, 국내 학술 논문의 질 높였다 . Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  17. 한국외대 외교관 후보자 선발시험 최종 합격자 8명 배출. 2 December 2020. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  18. 한국외대, 외교관 후보자 선발시험 최종 8명 합격. 7 December 2020. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  19. 2019년 외교관후보자 선발시험. 25 September 2019. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  20. "TESOL대학원". tesolgs.hufs.ac.kr.
  21. "Campus Environment". www.hufs.ac.kr. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  22. 문다영 (2020-11-20). 한국외대, 송도캠퍼스 개발 3천억원 유치…"첨단학과 신설". 연합뉴스. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  23. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/profiles/results/directory/profile/10004535/jooheon-shin [ dead link ]
  24. "|". 28 May 2017.
  25. Son, Ji-hyoung (2020-07-05). "Investment guru sees opportunities in post-COVID era" . Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  26. "Chung Kyo-Sun". Forbes .

37°35′50″N127°03′31″E / 37.597215°N 127.058537°E / 37.597215; 127.058537