Undergraduate N. Korea studies decline while graduate schools bolster courses

North Korea studies are getting less popular among undergraduate students here mainly due to a lack of substance to help job seekers, while graduate students are still pursuing in-depth research on their northern neighbor in preparation for eventual national reunification. The number of South Korean universities with undergraduate-level North Korea studies has markedly declined over the past years, while some graduate schools are moving to invigorate courses, school officials said Tuesday. Underscoring the growing reconciliation and exchanges between the two Koreas that eventually culminated in the historic summit of their leaders in 2000, several South Korean universities began launching undergraduate majors solely dedicated to North Korea starting in the late 1990s. The studies focused on a wide range of North Korean interests, ranging from inter-Korean relations to North Korean society to dialects in the North, which has remained separated from the South since the 1950-53 Korean War. [View Full Article]