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On March 14, the 2018 Global Studies Institute Welcoming Ceremony was held in Sohyang Art Hall to welcome international students to DSU, of whom more than 600 newly-arrived and returning international students attended. During the ceremony, DSU President Jekue Chang and various faculty members gave the students a warm welcome, celebrated their arrival at DSU, and wished them a successful overseas studying experience in their time here.

This first semester of 2018, there are 496 new international students, hailing from a total of 35 countries. Student’s home countries include locations as diverse as China, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, Germany, Sweden, Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador, Rwanda, and Tanzania.

The first segment of the welcoming ceremony involved a cheerful samulnori performance by ‘Yesori’, a DSU Korean traditional instruments-playing club. It was followed by a congratulatory message from President Chang, an introduction to professors, welcome speeches from a senior and a freshman foreign student, and the taking of commemorative photographs.

The following is a summary of President Chang’s congratulatory message:

I warmly welcome you all to DSU. During your time here, you will learn not only knowledge of your major, but also of Korea and Busan.

Our university has steadily promoted internationalization since its foundation. As a result, it is now one of the most internationalized universities in Korea. At present, we have about 1200 international students at our university, from as many as 70 countries. Ten percent of our students are international students. Also, about 1000 Korean DSU students study abroad every year. Indeed, our goal is to create an academic institution with no borders.

This speaks to the fact that we live in a global age now. However, a lot of people cannot enjoy the benefits of it. That's because they lack the necessary skills. One core component of those skills is the ability to work internationally, which requires being able to use a foreign language, to understand and respect a wide variety of cultures, and to build a global personal network. No matter what one’s other skills, knowledge, and expertise may be, it is difficult to advance on the world stage without these global-orientated capabilities.

In light of this, I hope you will keep the following three points in mind during your time studying at DSU. First, please cultivate knowledge in a wide range of areas. I appreciate that this can be difficult given that many of you come to DSU to specialize based on this institution’s world-class teaching and its recognition by companies for expertise in the fields of Digital Contents, Computer Engineering, Design, International Studies, and Business Administration in particular.

Second, I recommend you take advantage of your time in Korea to learn about Asia. In addition to its already being on the cutting-edge of new technological development, the time will soon come when Asia will be the most economically dynamic continent in the world, with the Asian Development Bank predicting that it will produce over 50 percent of world GDP by 2050. This means we all live in an age when knowledge of Asia is essential, and you are fortunate that most Asian major cities are just 2-3 hours away from your Busan hub.

Third, please make various types of friends. Both Korean students and fellow international students at DSU will be important connections for you during your time at DSU and well into the future too.

Finally, DSU pledges to listen to international students’ voices and concerns. Together, we at DSU will do our utmost to achieve our sincere hope that the time you spend in Korea will be beneficial and enjoyable for you.