Korea: In search of its own brand

The aim is to join other Asian Business Schools in Hong Kong, Singapore, and China to compete directly with European and U.S. Schools. „Globalization is our new mission," says Jang Hasung, dean of Korea University Business School.

The school he is heading is at the vanguard of the movement: More than half of all lectures are now in English. To make its curriculum compatible with leading schools in the U.S. and Europe, Korea University received accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business in 2005 and Equis accreditation from the Brussels-based European Foundation for Management Development in 2007. The school also teamed up with foreign partners. In recent years, Korea University has concluded exchange programs with some 100 business schools in the U.S., Europe, and Asia to accept some 300 foreign students.

Last year, Korea University forged a three-nation alliance with the National University of Singapore and the Fudan University in Shanghai to open a joint 18-month program, which requires students to study six months at each of the three schools. The program, called "S cube" to represent the three cities of Seoul, Shanghai, and Singapore, "will let students leverage on different strengths of the three nations and benefit from extensive Asian networking," says Jang. There are now 31 students enrolled, with the first class graduating next February.

Korea University isn't the only school in the country seeking international recognition. A total of six universities in Korea, including Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology, have been accredited by AACSB and they all run MBA courses in English. "We are latecomers but Korea is moving rapidly to emerge as a major business education centre in Asia," says Song Jae Yong, associate dean of Seoul National University Business School.

One strategy to attract students looking for international experience is offering dual degree programs together with overseas universities. In 2006, for example, Seoul National started a program with Duke University in the U.S. to give its MBA students a chance to get a second MBA degree from Duke if they complete a second year there after a one-year course in Seoul. Similar arrangements were concluded last year with France's Essec Business School and China's Peking University.

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