Soonchunhyang University (SCH) is a

private university Private universities and private colleges are higher education institutions not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. However, they often receive tax breaks, public student loans, and government grants. Depending on the count ...

in Asan, South Korea. Soonchunhyang University has a strength in the field of medicine, based on a Soonchunhyang University Hospitals. It ranked 9th among universities in South Korea, in the category of Clinical, Pre-Clinical & Health by

Times Higher Education World University Rankings The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'', often referred to as the THE Rankings, is the annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarelli Symon ...

in 2023.

History

The name 'Soonchunhyang' (순천향) means 'the peaceful hometown complying with the will of heaven'. The university's founder, Dr. Succ-Jo Suh named the school to reflect his philosophy in medical practices that "heaven will cure diseases; doctors only help the curing process". Soonchunhyang University was founded by Dr. Succ-Jo Suh in 1978, as a College of Medicine with 80 students. It emerged as a university based on Soonchunhyang Hospital, which was established in 1974. While initially established with the purpose of training medical professionals, the university gradually developed into a comprehensive university over time, offering both undergraduate and graduate programs. SCH received the 'National Award for Educational Reform Excellence' from the Korean Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in 2008, 2009, and 2010. In 2017, the University was under scrutiny for their ties to ex-president

Park Geun-hye Park Geun-hye (; ; born 2 February 1952) is a South Korean politician who served as the 11th president of South Korea from 2013 until Impeachment of Park Geun-hye, she was removed from office in 2017. Park was the first and to date only woman ...

during the court proceedings during the

Impeachment of Park Geun-hye On 9 December 2016, Park Geun-hye, the president of South Korea, was impeached as the culmination of a political scandal involving interventions to the presidency from her aide, Choi Soon-sil. 234 members of the 300-member National Assembly v ...

. The University President, Gyo-il Seo, allegedly received bribes for development from the President's office and Department of Education while university doctors prescribed President Park with illegal sleep medicines. Soonchunhyang University's support from the Ministry of Education increased from 7 billion won in 2012 and 4.5 billion won in 2013 to 8.1 billion won in 2014, 9.2 billion won in 2015, and 23.5 billion won in 2016 when the Park Geun-hye administration took office. This caused the University to lose public funding when

Moon Jae-in Moon Jae-in (, ; born January 24, 1953) is a South Korean politician and former lawyer who served as the 12th president of South Korea from 2017 to 2022. Before his presidency, he served as the senior secretary for civil affairs and the Chief ...

was inaugurated, in turn causing the University to downscale and close its Department of Education. On 8 February 2024, the Government of the Republic of Korea gave Soonchunhyang University a 1 year ban on the recruitment of international students as a result of an investigation following the unlawful forced deportation of 21 Uzbek students from Hanshin University. The government sited irregularities in the visa process, illegal stay ratio of students, failure rate of international students in Korean language courses, illegal employment of foreign students, and other factors prompted the government to ban Soonchunhyang for one year starting in the fall 2024 semester. Soonchunhyang University has achieved remarkable results in THE World University Rankings, ranking 5th in Korea and within the Top 100 globally in the World University Impact Rankings. Additionally, in THE World University Rankings by Subject (Medicine), the university ranked 10th in Korea and within the Top 400 worldwide, in 2024.

Undergraduate colleges

*College of Humanities and Social Sciences *College of Natural Sciences *College of Engineering *College of Software Convergence *College of Medical Science *College of Medicine *College of Global Business *SCH MediaLabs *College of Hyangseol Nanum

Graduate schools

* Graduate School of Industrial Information * Graduate School of Education * Graduate School of Healthcare Science * Graduate School of Public Administration * Graduate School of Global Management

Graduate School of Forensic Science

The School was established to educate students theoretical and application methods of scientific

crime investigation Forensic science combines principles of law and science to investigate criminal activity. Through crime scene investigations and laboratory analysis, forensic scientists are able to link suspects to evidence. An example is determining the time and ...

. The graduate program focuses on the application of the physical, bio-medical, and social sciences to the analysis and evaluation of

physical evidence In evidence law, physical evidence (also called real evidence or material evidence) is any material object that plays some role in the matter that gave rise to the litigation, introduced as evidence in a judicial proceeding (such as a trial) t ...

, human testimony and criminal suspects. As of 2014 the Graduate School of Forensic Science established a Master's program in Digital Forensic Science.

Departments

College of Medicine

* Department of Premedical Studies * Department of Medicine * Department of Nursing

College of medical sciences

* Department of Health Administration & Management * Department of Medical Biotechnology * Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science * Department of Occupational Therapy * Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering * Department of Biomedical Engineering

College of Natural Sciences

* Department of Chemistry * Department of Food Science & Nutrition * Department of Environmental Health Science * Department of Biology * Department of Sports Science * Department of Leisure and Recreation * Department of Sports Medicine

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

* Department of Youth Education & Counseling * Department of Law * Department of Public Administration * Department of Police Administration * Department of Social Welfare

College of Global Business

* Department of Business Administration * Department of International Trade * Department of Tourism Management * Department of Economics and Finance * Department of IT Financial Management * Department of Global Culture Industry * Department of Accounting

College of Engineering

* Department of Computer Science & Engineering * Department of Information & Communication Engineering * Department of Electronic Engineering * Department of Electrical Engineering * Department of Electronics & Information Engineering * Department of Chemical Engineering * Department of Energy & Environmental Engineering * Department of Display Materials Engineering * Department of Mechanical Engineering

SCH MediaLabs

* Department of Korean Culture Contents * Department of British & American Studies * Department of Chinese Studies * Department of Media & Communications * Department of Architecture * Department of Digital Animation * Department of Smart Automobile * Department of Energy Engineering * Department of Performing and Visual Arts * Department of Carbon Neutrality * Department of Intergrated Healthcare Science * Department of Biopharmaceutical Science

College of Hyangseol Nanum

* Department of Global Open Major

Ranking

*SCH ranked 151st for general education among Asia-Pacific universities by Chosun-QS Asia in 2010 *SCH ranked 8th for general education environment and for communication with students by Kyunhyang ERISS in 2010 *SCH ranked 135th for general education among Asia-Pacific universities by Chosun-QS Asia in 2009

Transportation

SCH offered shuttle bus service from

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

and various cities in

Gyeonggi Province Gyeonggi Province (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Seoul, the nation's largest city and capital, is in the heart of the area but has been separately administered as a provincial-level ''special city'' since 1946. Incheon, ...

and

Incheon Incheon is a city located in northwestern South Korea, bordering Seoul and Gyeonggi Province to the east. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Incheon was home to just 4,700 people when it became an international port in 1883. As of February 2020, ...

. This was shut down after campus renovations and remodeling removed the campus bus station in early 2021. SCH maintains a lending library for the local public within Sinchang-Soonchunhyang University Station. Books and periodicals range from academic texts to novels to general interest periodicals. SCH undertook an educational initiative for its students commuting to campus by subway in Fall 2010, offering lectures in three university courses by SCH professors. The car of the train where the lectures are held is equipped with four LCD monitors, a

beam projector A beam projector is a lenseless stage lighting instrument with very little beam spread. It uses two reflectors. The primary reflector is a parabolic reflector A parabolic (or paraboloid or paraboloidal) reflector (or dish or mirror) is a Mir ...

, speakers, and a

wireless microphone A wireless microphone, or cordless microphone, is a microphone without a physical cable connecting it directly to the sound recording or amplifying equipment with which it is associated. Also known as a radio microphone, it has a small, battery ...

for the professors.

University hospitals

SCU owns and operates four teaching hospitals in South Korea. These are general hospitals offering services in several departments such as Pediatric Neurology, Psychology, and Cardiovascular Surgery

Global network

Soonchunhyang University maintains formal educational partnerships with 194 post-secondary institutions worldwide. These partner institutions are found in the US, China,

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, Japan, Mexico,

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

, Thailand and several other countries.

Global village

The Global Village is the best dormitory on the Soonchunhyang campus as well as one of the best dormitories in Korea. This modern facility was built in 2006 for the sole purpose of fitting the needs of the international and Korean students residing together. The dormitory is configured in "suite style" living arrangements which allows 12 students to live in 1 suite. Each suite has 2 bathrooms, 2 showers, 2 sinks and six sleeping rooms that are connected by a common living room furnished with a suit case cabinet and drying rack. Facilities : Kitchens, Dining area, Study lounges, Washing machine.

Confucius Institute

The

Confucius Institute Confucius Institutes (CI; ) are public educational and cultural promotion programs of the state of China. The stated aim of the program is to promote Chinese language and culture, support local Chinese teaching internationally, and facilita ...

at SCU was established on September 28, 2007 in affiliation with the Tianjin Foreign Studies University in China, with a mandate to promote

Chinese language Chinese ( or ) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and List of ethnic groups in China, many minority ethnic groups in China, as well as by various communities of the Chinese diaspora. Approximately 1.39& ...

education and cultural learning . Programs include Chinese language education classes, Chinese youth camp, and cultural field trips to China. As of June 15, 2010, the Confucius Institute at SCH and the local government of Asan City began to offer programs for Asan's youth through the Asan City Youth Education and Culture Center (link to reference). In 2008 and 2009, The Confucius Institute was rated first in Korea and third in the world for overall achievement by Confucius Institute headquarters.

University clubs

* Hansori performs ' samulnori', About 50 members practice every week for playing regular and temporary performance. * Since 1981, the Byuk theater group performs two regular plays a year, and casual play sometimes. * Since 1985, the Korean Traditional Percussion Group has explored Korean musical traditions. Currently, there are 50 members to this club, including 34 undergraduate students. * The Thu.G club meets regularly to practice

rapping Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...

and beat box skills. The club holds four main performances throughout the school year. * The Sun C.A Cheerleading Squad meets weekly to practice dances and movement for cheerleading. With 38 members (30 of whom are undergraduates * DENIS (Dance Energy Nation In Soonchunhyang) practices

street dance Street dance is an umbrella term for a large number of social dance styles such as: breakdancing, popping, Locking (dance), locking, house dance, waacking, voguing, etc. Social dance styles have many accompanying steps and foundations, created o ...

* CHORD is one of Soonchunhyang's longest-standing clubs. Established in 1986, this club currently maintains 200 members (including 50 undergraduate students), who regularly perform at events such as the annual regular and open concerts, mini concerts for new students, SCH Music Festival, and periodic field trips. This club won first place in the KBS TV Academic Music Festival in 1988, and took second place in the same festival in 1991. In 2006, CHORD won first place in the Korean Amateur Music Festival. * M. Giuliani, or

Classical Guitar The classical guitar, also known as Spanish guitar, is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string (music), string instrument with strings made of catgut, gut or nylon, it is a precursor of the ...

Circle, currently has 99 members, 40 of whom are undergraduate students. This club offers guitar lessons to its members and participates in mini concerts and regular concerts annually. * Soongumhoi is the campus

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

club, with 150 members (30 of whom are undergraduate students). T * The

Tae Kwon Do Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In a ...

club was established in 1992 with 20 members, and has expanded to 60 members (including 37 undergraduate students). * The Calligraphy Group was founded in 1978. Currently, 38 members (30 of whom are undergraduate students). During regular meetings, members practice Korean-style

calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...

(called soye) .

Notable alumni

Jeon No-min Jeon No-min (born Jun Jae-yong on August 28, 1966) is a South Korean actor. Among his recent roles were the villainous Hwarang warrior Seolwon in ''Queen Seondeok Queen Seondeok ( ; ? – ; day of the lunar month of the year of Inpye ...

, actor

References

External links

Soonchunhyang University
{{Authority control Universities and colleges in South Chungcheong Province Universities and colleges established in 1978 Asan Private universities and colleges in South Korea