Introduction
Program Overview
KU’s Korean Flagship Overseas Program (KFOP) is an overseas training program of the Korean Flagship Program (UHM Korean Flagship Program) established by the U.S. government (The Language Flagship) and administered by the University of Hawaii at Manoa in order to cultivate American specialists on Korea with the highest professional proficiency in Korean (Superior Level ACTFL OPI).
Upon the completion of the overseas component through undergraduate or graduate courses, advanced Korean language courses, internships, and various other cultural activities, students will be able to obtain the highest proficiency in Korean.
This program, first administered at the University of Hawaii, began its first semester in fall 2003 after a year of preparations. In 2006, it became a degree program, granting a master’s degree to students who complete a two-year program. Since the establishment of its undergraduate program in 2009, undergraduate students from the University of Hawaii have participated in the KFOP at Korea University as exchange students. Starting in 2019, the University of Wisconsin-Madisons Korean language program also took part in the Korean Flagship domestic program, and with the University of Hawaii, students were sent to the KFOP of Korea University for one year.
Language Flagship
The Language Flagship (TLF) is an advanced language training program with a new paradigm for designing, supporting, and implementing language education. Through an innovative partnership with the National Security Education Program (NSEP) under the U.S. Department of Defense, educational organizations, and businesses, the TLF nurtures undergraduate and graduate students who will grow into the next generation of global professionals. The top priority of the TLF is to produce talent with the highest-level of language ability who can fluently speak one of the strategic languages related to major U.S. competitors and the national security of the U.S.
TLF has played a breakthrough role in foreign language/culture study and education in the U.S. by supporting selected students for the program for major world languages, including Korean, Arabic, Chinese, Hindi/Urdu, Portuguese, Persian, Russian, Swahili, and Turkish, to advance to the highest level. The UHM Korean Flagship Program, the University of Wisconsin-Madison Korean Flagship Program and the KU-KFOP are the only three programs for Korean language.