Experiencing South Korea
(Offered as Gen. Ed: Local to Global Perspective)
About this program
​Scenes from South Korea
Experiencing South Korea is a study abroad program, led by Dr. Hur who is a native Korean and professor in the Department of Government and Justice Studies at Appalachian State University.
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Credits: 6 (PS 3532 & PS 3542)
Email: hury@appstate.edu

​From a least developed country to a global leader
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South Korea has become a good model of success in the global community because it successfully overcame a lot of hardships particularly in its recent history, and has emerged as a global leader in many areas such as economy, arts, and sports. South Korea is the seventh largest exporter and tenth largest importer in the world. As a result, South Korea’s GDP per capita has jumped from $104 in 1962 to $24,000 in 2011. South Korea has been also strong in sports. It ranked 5th in the 2012 London Summer Olympics, as well as in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
Build Up Global Senses Through This Program!
In this comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach, students will be able to deeply explore and experience diverse aspects of South Korea such as culture and history as seen below. To help understand what students are going to experience in South Korea, some examples are posted with a brief explanation on this website. By clicking a picture, you will see a larger picture with my explanation.
What are we going to experience?
Why is South Korea unique?
The last country divided by ideologies
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Since Germany was reunified, Korea has become the only one country left on the globe that was divided by ideologies (communism vs. democracy). Before being divided, Korea was under the Japanese ruling for 36 years that ended in 1945 shortly after the Japanese defeat in World War II. In 1950, North Korea waged war against South Korea, which devastated the whole Korean Peninsula and made South Korea one of the poorest countries in the world until 1960s.
Cheomseongdae is an astronomical observatory in Gyeongju, South Korea. Cheomseongdae means star-gazing tower in Korean. Cheomseongdae is the oldest observatory in East Asia, and is the oldest scientific installation on Earth. It dates to the 7th century to the time of kingdom of Silla, which had its capital in Gyeongju. Cheomseongdae was designated as the country's 31st national treasure (Source: Widipedia).
Seoul is operating 24/7 like New York City.
The format of traditional meal consists of rice, soup, and diverse side dishes. Therefore, Koreans have to use chopsticks to pick up side dishes and spoon to eat soup. Although people's busy lives in a modern era has reduced the number of side dishes and let people introduce a western meal style, the basic format of traditional largely remains - That is, bowl of rice, bowl of soup, and side dishes.
Cheomseongdae is an astronomical observatory in Gyeongju, South Korea. Cheomseongdae means star-gazing tower in Korean. Cheomseongdae is the oldest observatory in East Asia, and is the oldest scientific installation on Earth. It dates to the 7th century to the time of kingdom of Silla, which had its capital in Gyeongju. Cheomseongdae was designated as the country's 31st national treasure (Source: Widipedia).
