Seoul National University is a university whose main campus is located in Seoul, South Korea. This national university's English name translates its former Korean name, "Gungnip Seoul Daehakgyo" (국립서울대학교); but the university's name in the Korean language is now simply "Seoul Daehakgyo" (서울대학교).

History

Seoul National University was founded on August 22, 1946 by merging 10 schools around Seoul area based on "The law concerning the foundation of Seoul National University" (국립서울대학교 설립에 관한 법령).

The schools merged were:

• Gyeongseong University (경성대학교)
• Gyeongseong Law College (경성법학전문학교)
• Gyeongseong Industrial College (경성공업전문학교)
• Gyeongseong Mining College (경성광산전문학교)
• Gyeongseong Medical College (경성의학전문학교)
• Suwon Agriculture College (수원농림전문학교)
• Gyeongseong Business College (경성경제전문학교)
• Gyeongseong Dentistry College (경성치과의학전문학교)
• Gyeongseong Education College (경성사범학교)
• Gyeongseong Women Education College (경성여자사범학교)

The first president was Harry B. Ansted.

The college of law was founded by merging the law department of Gyeongseong University with Gyeongseong Law College (경성법학전문학교).

The university's second president was Lee Chunho(이춘호, 李春昊), who served from October 1947.

The university absorbed Seoul College of Pharmacy (서울약학대학) in September, 1950, as the College of Pharmacy. This had previously been a private institution.

During the Korean War, the university was temporarily merged with other universities in South Korea at Busan.

Originally, the main campus was located on Daehangno (University Street) in the Jongno-gu District. Most parts of the university relocated to a new campus in Gwanak-gu in 1975. The campus in the Jongno-gu District is now the medical campus, referred to as the Yeongon Campus.

Reputation

Seoul National University is one of the so-called "SKY" schools in Korea. The acronym is the first initials of the three most prestigious and highly desired universities in Korea: Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University. Admissions into the universities are competitive as a degree from one of the "SKY" schools is seen as a ticket to success and honor in Korean society. Seoul National University is generally regarded as the most prestigious university among the three universities and the graduates of this university share a high portion of government officials, parliament members and CEOs of many companies.However, since a sizable portion of government officials (in some cases exceeding 50%) is SNU graduates, they are sometimes a target of elitism and inefficient bureaucratism. Similar to Tokyo University graduates in Japan, the concentration of SNU graduates in legal and political circles is particularly troublesome. For example, it is estimated that more than 80% of judges and prosecutors are SNU graduates. On the political side, for example, four out of seven presidential candidates in 2002 were SNU graduates.

Undergraduate colleges

• College of Humanities
• College of Social Sciences
• College of Natural Sciences
• College of Nursing
• College of Business Administration
• College of Engineering
• College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
• College of Fine Arts
• College of Law
• College of Education
• College of Human Ecology
• College of Veternary Medicine
• College of Pharmacy
• College of Medicine
• College of Dentistry

Graduate schools

• Graduate School of Humanities
• Graduate School of Social Sciences
• Graduate School of Natural Sciences
• Graduate School of Engineering
• Graduate School of Education
• Graduate School of Agriculture
• Graduate School of Medicine
• Graduate School of Public Administration
• Graduate School of Environmental Studies
• Graduate School of Public Health
• Graduate School of Human Ecology
• Graduate School of International Studies

Location

• Gwanak Campus, the main campus, is located on the southern part of Seoul. It is served by its own station on Line 2 (the Green Line) of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway.
• Yeongeon Campus (the medical campus), is located in Daehangno(University Street), downtown Seoul.
• Suwon Campus (the agricultural campus), also called Sangrok Campus(Evergreen Campus) is located in Suwon, about 40 km south of Seoul. The agricultural campus moved to Gwanak 2004 autumn, while some experimenting facilities still remain in Suwon.

Notable alumni

• Kim Young-sam
• Hwang Woo-Suk

Notes