Hankuk University of Foreign Studies

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies was founded in 1954 to produce talented individuals who could further Korea’s modernization and the cause of world peace. Based on genuine understanding and profound love for the Korean people and humankind, HUFS’ enterprising spirit has helped Korea establish a major presence in the world, overcoming national adversity from the Korean War. HUFS will continue to work for peace for all humankind through its ongoing search for the truth and create a new culture. This will primarily entail concentrating all its resources on fostering talented people for Korea in the world and for the world in Korea.

HUFS aims to become a world-class global university leading in academic consolidation and convergence that embraces the humanities, business and economics, the social sciences, law, and science and engineering based on its specialized education in 45 foreign languages, a level on par with the world’s No. 3 foreign language program. Therefore, having gathered the capabilities of all HUFS members, the school declared “HUFS Vision 2020,” aspiring to stand out in the world by furthering its own strengths in language and literature and area studies while fulfilling the mission of fostering talents who embrace the value of academic convergence.

With the goal of fostering future global leaders, HUFS has expanded its curriculum beyondthe45 language major courses, opening a range of new courses for both majors and liberal arts in the fields of regional studies, politics, economics, social studies, culture studies, and engineering, etc. In addition, we are striving to promote our students’ advances on the global stage by signing agreements on exchange programs with 554 universities and institutions from 88 countries around the world.

Going forward, we will continue to focus on nurturing globally competitive, talented individuals who can rise to the challenges of our era by continuously expanding our inter-disciplinary “convergence education” programs based on languages and regional studies, which are the university’s unique values. In addition, we will transform HUFS into a “university you want to visit” by creating a “university town” on our Seoul Campus and expanding the infrastructure for our Global Campus. Also, we will continue to work hard to ensure that our students take great pride in being members of HUFS, a “university you want to attend,” by offering them more opportunities for scholarships and overseas exchange programs.

Inspired by the idea of free democracy, HUFS encourages the development of students’ individuality and builds their leadership character to make them highly capable people of the kind who can contribute to the development of Korea and the world. In the process, it never strays from its founding spirit of "truth, peace, and creation." HUFS is also moving to establish its independence as a private school while never losing sight of its nature as a public educational institution. In addition, HUFS seeks to differentiate itself from other institutions of higher education and maintain its distinctiveness, as manifested in its school name.

HUFS derives its educational philosophy from the spirit of the school’s motto, “Truth, Peace, and Creativity. Students are encouraged to embrace the ideals of liberal democracy and to cultivate a sense of individuality and leadership to make a contribution to the enrichment and prosperity of the nation and the world as a whole.

HUFS cultivates enlightened citizens with a global perspective and creative professionals who will lead the fusion of the world’s cultures in the future. Students are educated in the liberal arts encompassing the humanities as well as the social and natural sciences to build a sound foundation of knowledge. Furthermore, students are trained in one or more foreign languages, a prominent feature and priority at HUFS. Coupled with the language training is the study of regional geopolitics, economy, society and culture in different parts of the world, in order to nurture true citizens of the world.