The valuable assets of the GSIS
Oleg Kiriyanov,
Russian national daily “Rossiyskaya Gazeta”
The special correspondent of the international news department
Though the GSIS opened its doors in 1997 the Korean studies department created for foreign students appeared only in 1998. So we were the first foreigners to study at the Institutute.
Right before the beginning of the classes I was a bit worring. About ten students were studing at our department and everybody had different backgroung and wanted different fields to specialize in: politics, economy, literature, linguistics, culture, etc. How all of them could be satisfied? Fortunately the system turned out to be quite flexible and every student had chance to study his or her favorite subject. At the same time we felt ourselves as a part of the whole GSIS community and Korean students were really good friends for us. Actually I can say that I did not feel myself a foreigner ? just a student like everybody else.
Before entering GSIS I graduated International relations department of SNU and teachers of GSIS seemed to me more flexible. Well, probably there was an another reason for that: we were now graduate students and not yesterday’s schoolchildren and it is always easier to pay special attention to the group of ten students than to a class of 50-60 ones like at the undergraduate programme. Anyway conversations with our teachers both formal at classrooms and informal with a glass of beer or a cup of coffee somewhere outside of the Institute are among unforgettable memories from GSIS.
Later after I became a journalist I also realized that besides the knowledge about interKorean relations and Korean politics which were my majors the GSIS gave me one of the most valuable assets ? friends. That helped and keeps helping me in both professional and personal spheres.
When I returned to Korea 4 years later after graduation from the GSIS I was surprised and please to see many of my classmates at the press-conferences. Some of them became politicians, some work for famous companies, some passed difficult exams and work for different ministries of the governments and many became like me journalists. We chosed different carreers and many of us live or work even in different countries but we all remember that we have the same alma mater - the GSIS, SNU.