4 Surprising Things About Korean University Culture 

Along with high-quality cosmetics and bags of seaweed, one thing that travellers who have just visited Korea always carry with them back home is culture shock. In fact, Korea is a country of surprises. Safety is often mentioned as one of the most surprising things about Korean society - no one dare steal your $2,000 Macbook Pro left unattended in a cafe for a few hours while you are out for lunch. While there are so many unique characteristics of Korea that people consider different from what they are used to back home, a lesser-known aspect of Korean society is its university culture that is full of surprises. So much has been written and spoken about Korea’s academic credentialism that creates a surprisingly competitive learning environment, but another look into Korean universities will provide interesting examples of cultural differences. Below I outline and explain four things about Korea’s university and student culture that might surprise you. 

1. Class registration is literally a war 

Students stare at computer screens and wait in suspense as the class registration system opens. Photo: 고대신문

Studying in a foreign country is a great way to make new friends and life-long memories. I occasionally get a chance to talk with foreign students who have spent some time - a single semester on an exchange or even a few years doing a whole degree - at various universities in Korea, and a majority of them told me that they had the time of their lives. While telling of their very diverse experiences and memories that highlight their time in Korea, they all unanimously agree on one point that they disliked about their student life -- class registration. 

In Korean universities, signing up for class gets surprisingly competitive, which usually happens twice during summer and winter holidays. Because whether they can spend a relaxing and enjoyable semester is at stake, students across the nation go online at the same time to the point that top searches on Korean online search engines, such as Naver, become filled with names of universities -- it literally looks like a digital war between every student hoping to get a perfect timetable. 

To successfully get into a few prerequisite courses, popular classes with highly rated professors on school community pages, and easy credits, students plan various strategies. The most common technique is that students make their ways to local internet cafes (PC방), stand by from 30 minutes before registration begins, and craft their ideal timetables at lightning speed by making the full use of the PC bangs’ optimal internet. People who would rather concentrate on getting everything right in a quiet environment stay at home, open multiple windows on different web browsers and search engines, and play the waiting game on the Naver Clock that shows the very accurate local time. 

This ‘course registration war’ occurs due to the fact that many universities in Korea have strict regulations about class size caps depending on many factors, such as course contents and classroom availability. As far as I know, many universities also have spots exclusively reserved for foreign students (usually those who are on exchange), making it a little less stressful for sojourners to enroll in what they want during their limited stay. However, you have to be extremely lucky to get into all the courses you wish to take, so what usually happens is that people go knock on doors of professors' rooms, with the intention of having direct negotiations to obtain a ticket to the class. It is also not uncommon to see many threads come up on school community sites where students swap classes or switch tutorial allocations. 

2. Drinking is an inseparable part of university culture in Korea

A sneak peek into a typical university MT (membership training). New and existing students get together to spend a night getting to know each other.

Together with class registration, drinking is something that you cannot just avoid while studying at universities in Korea. To be fair, it is not a rare sight to see a group of young university students go out on a Friday night for drinks in any country. But, the student drinking culture here in Korea really is something else -- Korean uni students drink a lot in terms of both amount and frequency! Some enjoy drinking to the point where they collapse and end up sleeping on the streets while waiting for a taxi to take them home at 4 am although people who would like to go overboard like that might not represent the sum of ordinary uni students in Korea. 

When a new semester begins at universities, students, in tandem with their respective faculties and majors, usually organise a meet-and-greet to extend a warm welcome to new incoming students. On a typical orientation day, new students gather at school in the morning and afternoon for information sessions, registration, and a campus tour, followed by a welcome party, as known as rounds of drinking at different venues till the sunrise. The rest of the semester will be filled with many events that are unique and diverse, ranging from excursions to end-of-exam parties. But, what they have in common is that they all necessarily include drinking. In my undergraduate studies, I personally experienced culture shock when students were serving and selling alcohol at stalls at the school festival while others enjoyed drinking and playing drinking games on campus. 

Another surprising thing about the student drinking culture in Korea is that each session tends to last forever - or from 6 pm to 6 am to be exact. And the long duration of drinking means that all different types of alcohol are consumed on a single night. Uni students’ ultimate favourite drink is somaek (소맥), which is a mixture of soju (소주) and beer (맥주). On a rainy day, students like to keep the tradition alive by forming a group to grab makgeolli (막걸리) while it is pretty common to go hit local bars that serve cocktails on weekends. 

Korea’s hardcore drinking culture might be hard to understand or follow especially for those who are not a huge fan of drinking in general. However, uni students in Korea consider drinking as a bonding activity to get to know each other better. Meeting and chatting over a few bottles of soju and beer is the easiest way to break the ice when meeting someone for the first time and have honest conversations. Especially if you have the privilege of studying at a university in Korea for a limited amount of time, saying yes to such university events that involve drinking might be a good way to build a stronger relationship with your fellow students.  

3. A sense of belonging and community is continuously projected on and off campus

A typical university jacket includes the university name and logo, and a specific major. It is often the case that different faculties have their own designs. Photo: 서울신문

The notion of individualism and collectivism is often used to contrast Western and Asian cultures and societies. While I personally believe such sweeping comparisons are a little outdated, collectivist ethos and a strong sense of community might provide a good lens through which to look at Korea’s unique university culture. Just like in any country, uni students in Korea foster and value a strong sense of belonging. But, what I find very interesting is the fact that their considerable emphasis on community is multi-tiered. Of course, they first associate strongly with their respective universities, but then their loyalty ramifies into smaller communities based around their own faculties and majors. 

To mediate the faculty-based identities of students, different majors host what is known in Korea as a “membership training” (or more commonly known as MT), which is held once or twice a semester. MTs are weekend getaways for students, where they get out of their neighbourhood to spend a rapport-building night in a cottage or wooden house. There, mingling between new and existing students can happen, and they exchange general and critical information on academic schedules and recommended/must-avoid courses, cook Korean BBQ together, and ultimately make new friends. As always, drinking is usually involved in MTs, but student committees that exist within each faculty try to come up with fun and creative games that require teamwork for the sake of community-building and making sure that everyone is connected. 

To manifest their loyalty to their faculties, uni students in Korea either customise university branded items and apparel or design their original merchandise. Baseball jackets with the school name and major on them are a must item for uni students in Korea, while people wear tailor-made faculty branded T-shirts to school events or sometimes to class. There are also many clubs open exclusively to students belonging to a particular major.

Their association with their faculties do not water down their love for their home universities though. At the end of the day, uni students maintain a strong affinity with their home institutions by demonstrating how their university as a whole is better than others. A notable example of this is an annual sporting event co-hosted by Korea University and Yonsei University, called Ko-Yon Jeon and Yon-Ko Jeon by their respective students. In this two-day event, they compete against each other in football, rugby, baseball, basketball, and ice hockey, to determine not only who is better at what sports, but also which university is better and stronger as a whole. An unspoken rule is that the winner gets to brag about their success and victory and the counterpart’s lack of ability until the next game - a tradition that many consider as a fun event, but is taken seriously by some. 

4. University students take events seriously and it’s amazing

School festival at Korea University, known as IPSELENTI & First-year uni students on April Fools’ Day - Photo: KU Sejong News (left), 국민일보 (right)

To wrap up, I would like to touch on one aspect of Korea’s university culture that surprised me in a very amusing way. The academic year for Korean universities starts in March, which means that spring semester is of paramount importance to each school, involving a variety of events to welcome new students, ranging from club weeks to aforementioned MTs. But, the most exciting university-hosted event is perhaps school festivals, usually organised around the mid and last weeks of May. School festivals are a universal thing that is enjoyed by universities around the world, but Korea’s student culture seems to take such occasions to another level. 

The scale of school festivals in Korea just blows your mind. Although the actual duration of the festivals varies between different universities, most school festivals tend to last somewhere around 3 to 4 days. During these festivals, students set up themed stalls where they work together to serve their original dishes and drinks. Student clubs and organisations too play an important part as groups of student music bands, dance societies, and drama clubs steal the show by coming together in dazzling performances and demonstrating their outstanding skills and artistry that they have refined throughout the year. The highlight of the school festivals usually come on the last day when renowned celebrities, singers, and idol groups come on stage for short concerts. Uni students literally spend weeks and months in the lead up to the school festivals playing the guessing game, but the line up often surpasses their expectations to include globally renowned names such as Psy and Blackpink. The school festivals are an amazing student culture in Korea, made possible by students working hard in tandem with their universities. 

As weird as it might appear, another event that is taken seriously by uni students in Korea is April Fools’ Day. As a cultural tradition, most middle schools and high schools in Korea have designated uniforms that students are required to wear. Having attended high school every day dressed in distinct school uniforms, it must be a mixed feeling for Korean students to be given the freedom to dress whatever they want all a sudden once they enter universities. To celebrate their transition to university while being nostalgic about their high school memories, first-year uni students dig their old uniforms out of their closets and wear them to university on April Fools’ Day. An interesting sight of young uni students dressed in high school uniforms taking group photos, having lunch together, and then heading to class, is something you can only witness in Korea.