The Division of Global Convergence at Sookmyung Women's University, exclusively for international students, began as a close-knit community but now plans to expand by introducing new divisions in the 2026 academic year.

On March 12, around 15 international students were taking a Global Capability Strategy class taught by Professor Moon Hyung-nam, dean of the College of Global Convergence.


The students were listening to a lecture about Korea's future business environment and the skills needed in the fourth industrial revolution, nodding along and answering questions.

Global Capability Strategy is a core course offered under the Division of Global Convergence, the only division under the college and Sookmyung Women's University's undergraduate program exclusively open to international students.

The division was created in March 2024. Being an international student-only program, students take Korean language classes and foundational courses in their freshman year.

“Other departments at the university usually require at least a TOPIK level 4 for admission, but we accept students with TOPIK level 2 or above and accept those without level 2 on the condition that they complete further Korean studies," said Professor Moon. "Instead, we offer an intensive Korean language program in their freshman year to ensure that students reach a level where they can fully keep up with their classes within a year."

In their sophomore year, students can choose to do an intensive major in the division, which offers three tracks: Global Korea, Digital Communication and Global Business. Students are also given the option to do a self-designed major, which allows them to design a curriculum combining courses from various majors.

Although the College of Global Convergence started with one division, Sookmyung Women's University is working on expanding the college. According to the university, it plans to rename the college and add more divisions for international students starting in the 2026 academic year.

"We are in the final stages of preparing to rename the College of Global Convergence to the Hallyu International College," said Professor Moon. "The Division of Global Convergence will have its name changed to Division of Interdisciplinary Studies, and we also plan to create a new Division of Hallyu Studies."

"In addition to the three tracks we offer, we are developing new curricula for areas that students show strong interest in, such as K-pop and K-food, for the new division."

The college is also in talks to create a dual degree program with a university in Australia, which would allow international students to study at Sookmyung for three years and abroad for one year to get degrees from both universities.

Despite the Division of Global Convergence being fairly new, its various international student support programs have drawn attention from students.

A one-time 500,000-won ($345) scholarship is offered to all students when they enroll in the division. The division also arranges various events for students, such as workshops, special lectures and cultural events.

Soe Thinzar Khin, a Myanmar student now in her sophomore year at the Division of Global Convergence, is one of the division’s inaugural students.

"I first researched online about studying in Korea, but a teacher I knew back then had graduated from a master's and Ph.D. program in painting at Sookmyung Women's University and also recommended the school to me," said Khin. "After doing a bit of my own research, I found out the division was only for international students, and that interested me and made me apply."

Although listening to Korean classes was not the easiest, she was encouraged by the support system within the division.

"There were times when it was hard for me to understand parts of the class for professors who talked fast, but it became better because most professors in our division talk slowly when they teach and I also learned more Korean," said Khin. "There's staff at the International Student Services team who are really helpful, and the TOPIK classes offered at the division helped too."

Learning Korean after enrolling is essential, as the courses under the major are taught in Korean. Doing self-designed majors or double majors in other programs is also an option, which invites international students to take classes with students outside their division.

According to Professor Moon, this allows international students to naturally mingle with Korean students.

"Most of our courses are part of a code-sharing system, meaning they can be offered by other departments or by our own," said Professor Moon. "Students can take classes with students from other programs, and I don’t think there’s any issue with networking or interacting with Korean students."

Under the division, the Global Business track offers courses traditionally offered by business programs such as marketing, business analytics and PR. However, the division also aims to go beyond the usual curriculum by including some AI-related courses.

"Students need to have something different to have a competitive edge, and we included classes like AI & Convergence Business in our curriculum because students need to know AI well in this era of AI," said Professor Moon. "Students will be able to develop a unique competitive edge as they integrate AI in their original field of study, and we will continue to focus on AI-related offerings."

The division’s business track also aims to differentiate from the Division of Business Administration by offering a different perspective.

“Traditional business studies focus on teaching concepts applicable to large corporations, but we also teach about overall Korean business management since the students are in Korea,” said Professor Moon. “About half our students want to stay in Korea, and others want to return home or go to other countries, and we teach both Korean-style business management and help students develop global business capabilities.”

Korean studies is another common program offered at many universities, also available in the Division of Global Convergence through the Global Korea track.

Although most Korean studies programs offer courses about history, culture and language, the division includes a few architecture classes such as Architecture and Space in Contemporary Seoul and Korea and Cities of the World.

"Korean studies are taught in many countries abroad, and Korean studies taught in Korea need to be different," said Professor Moon. "I know a few people who are in the field of architecture, and many emphasize that understanding Korea's architecture is also essential to understanding Korean culture."

"The courses are designed to allow students to understand Korea's urban environment and architecture, gaining a deeper understanding of Korean society in a spatial context."

With Sookmyung Women's University set to open international undergraduate admissions for the fall 2025 semester in April and June, the Division of Global Convergence hopes to attract more international students.

"There can be students who aren't that good in Korean," said Khin. "I want to tell them to not worry about struggling with their studies because of Korean or being unsure about what major to choose. Don't worry and come study at our division!"

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]