Korean Minor

Korea occupies a place of significant geopolitical, economic, and cultural importance in the world. It is a unique country where five thousand years of history and tradition coexist with the most advanced technological and economic development. It is also a place where political and ideological differences divide the country into two Koreas (Republic of Korea, or South Korea, and Democratic Republic of Korea, or North Korea) that maintain one of the world’s most fortified military zones. The Korean peninsula is home to over 72 million ethnic Koreans (North and South combined) and over 1.3 million recent migrants from all over the world. Approximately 7 million ethnic Koreans have migrated to other countries and have established diasporic communities in over 150 countries. The Korean language is spoken by over 75 million people around the world and ranks 13th among the most used languages in the world.

Requirements 

In addition to the program requirements listed below, students must:

  • take at least nine hours of their minor "core" requirements at UNC–Chapel Hill
  • earn a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.000 in the minor core requirements. Some programs may require higher standards for minor or specific courses.

For more information, please consult the degree requirements section of the catalog.

The undergraduate minor in Korean consists of four courses.

Core Requirements
Three courses are language courses beyond KOR 203 (the first semester of Intermediate Korean), chosen from:9-10
Intermediate Korean II
Advanced Korean I
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Advanced Korean II
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Modern Korean Literature and Culture
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Changes and Continuities in Korean History
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Korean Through Current Affairs
Topics in Korean Language and Literature
The fourth course must be chosen from among the following courses:3
IDEAs in Action General Education logo First-Year Seminar: Transnational Korea: Literature, Film, and Popular Culture
IDEAs in Action General Education logo History, Memory, and Reality in Contemporary Korea
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Education and Social Changes in Contemporary Korea
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Imagining the City in Modern Korea: Text, Image, Space
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Rebel, Lover, Martyr: Gender and Sexuality in North and South Korean Screen Cultures
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Korean Diasporas
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Body Politics in Modern Korean Literature H
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Modern Korean Literature and Culture
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Changes and Continuities in Korean History
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Korean Through Current Affairs
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Cold War Culture in East Asia: Transnational and Intermedial Connections
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Documenting Diasporas: Korean Diasporas in Films and Documentaries
IDEAs in Action General Education logo Asian Economic Systems
Topics in Korean Language and Literature
Total Hours12-13
H

Honors version available. An honors course fulfills the same requirements as the nonhonors version of that course. Enrollment and GPA restrictions may apply.

Placement credit (PL) may not be used to meet minor requirements.

See the program page here for special opportunities.

Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

Visit Program Website

New West 113, CB# 3267

(919) 962-4294

Korean Program Advisor

I Jonathan Kief

kief@email.unc.edu

Chair

Morgan Pitelka

mpitelka@unc.edu

Director of Undergraduate Studies

Robin Visser

rvisser@email.unc.edu

Student Services Specialist

Ash Barnes

wow@unc.edu