The Graduate School of International and Area Studies was established in 1996 for the purpose of cultivating area specialists equipped with research capability and linguistic competence in regional languages and English, well prepared to excel in the fields of trade, diplomacy, politics, economy, society and culture, and international organizations.
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, which started out in 1954 with five foreign language departments, now teaches grand total of 45 languages. Thus the GSIAS is well able to offer courses combining training in foreign languages and area-specific social science- based studies. In April 2007 the GSIAS added two new dual-degree programs with the UN-mandated University for Peace, the aim of which is to help produce graduates with the qualities of global leaders. In sum the graduate school has the following characteristics:

- GSIAS is an area-specific graduate school which offers the most diverse programs of any university in Korea across the whole range of social science disciplines: political science, economics, and social and cultural aspects of all reasons of the world.

- Regarding the tuition fee, GSIAS offers the highest percentage of scholarships among all area studies graduate schools in Korea, and it actually provides scholarships to all students.
 
- GSIAS has an experienced corps of Korean professors proficient in regional languages combined with expert knowledge in the social sciences. It also has a number of full-time professors who are native speakers of regional languages.
 
- GSIAS produces graduates equipped with practical linguistic competence combined with area-specific knowledge through enrollment in a variety of elective courses.
 
- GSIAS offers multidisciplinary studies across the range of the social sciences focused on area specialization.
 
- GSIAS operates credit exchange programs with domestic and overseas universities and provides abundant learning opportunities to students by linking its curriculum with various regional studies and language programs at HUFS.
 
- GSIAS operates a “3+1 student dispatch system” that allows students to study abroad at an overseas university for a semester, affording them the opportunity to develop creative and practical understanding about specific areas while cultivating leadership skills.
 
- GSIAS has established two new departments ? the Department of International Law and Human Rights and the Department of Media, Peace and Conflict Studies ? a program which includes study for two semesters at the UN-mandated University for Peace, based in Costa Rica.

1. Faculty
Hong Soon-Nam, Ph. D. (Univ. of Cairo) Middle East Politics and Diplomacy
Won Chong-Keun, Ph.D. (Korea Univ.)Business Administration
Kim Si-Hong, Ph.D. (Univ. Gregoriana, Italy) Social Changes, Italian Area Studies
Kang Jun-Young, Ph.D. (National Politics Univ., Taiwan) Law
Lee, Gwang Eun, JD. (Univ. of Southern California) International Trade, Trade Agreements
Lee Sang Hwan, Ph.D. (Michigan State Univ.) International Politics and Economy
Yeo Ho-Kyu, Ph.D. (Seoul National Univ.) Korean Ancient History, Goguryeo History
Kim Won-Ho, Ph.D. (Univ. of Texas at Austin) Latin American Studies
Lee Sang Hoon, Ph.D. (Osaka Univ.) Law
Hong Wan-Suk, Ph.D.(Moscow State Univ. of International Relations, Russia) Political Science
Seo Jeong-Min, Ph.D. (Univ. of Oxford) Middle East Politics
Kim Chanwahn, Ph.D. (Univ of Delhi.) Indian Politics and Economy
Ohn Daewon, Ph.D. (London School of Economics and Political Science)International Relations
Andrew Wolman, M.A.(New York Univ. School of Law) Law
Behzad Shahandeh, Ph.D. (Tehran Univ.) International Relations
Satou Ikuyki, Ph.D. (Univ. of Tsukuba) Science of Religion
Wang, Hui Min, Ph.D. (Shanghai Academy of Social Science)Industrial Economics
Mason Richey, Ph.D. (Binghamton Univ.) Philosophy
Ekra Miezan, Ph.D. (Univ. of Massachusetts) Communication
2. The Master's Programs
Korean Studies/ Chinese Studies/ Japanese Studies/ South and Southeast Asian Studies/ Middle East and African Studies/ Russian and CIS Studies/
European Union Studies/ North American Studies/ Latin American Studies/
U-PEACE / International Development Studies

1) Admission
 
Eligibility
Applicants having obtained (or expect to obtain) a Bachelor’s degree or its equivalent in Korea or a foreign country
 
Admission Timetable
To be announced via web site:(http://gsias.hufs.ac.kr)
 
Admission Requirements
- Document Review & Interview
- English Essay Test (International Law and Human Rights & Media, Peace and Conflicts Studies Only)
 
2) Requirements for the Master's Degree are as Follows
 
- A minimum of 40 credit hours as advised by program supervisor with the minimum grade point average of 3.00 out of the maximum of 4.50 points
- Two years(four semesters) of residence
- Proficiency test in the foreign language
- A thesis written under the supervision of an advisory professor in the department
- Oral defense of the thesis conducted under a committee of 3 professors
3. The Doctoral Programs
Korean Studies/ International Area Studies/ International Relations
1) Admission
 
Eligibility
Applicants having obtained (or expected to obtain) a Master’s degree in related fields or its equivalent in Korea or a foreign country
 
Admission Timetable
To be announced via web site:(http://gsias.hufs.ac.kr)
 
Admission Requirements
Document Review & Interview
 
2) Requirements for the Doctoral Degree are as Follows
 
- A minimum of 36 credit hours as advised by program supervisor with the minimum grade point average of 3.00 out of the maximum of 4.50 points
- Two years(four semesters) of residence
- A qualifying examination in 3 selected fields
- Proficiency test in the foreign language
- A dissertation written under the supervision of an advisory professor in the department
- Oral defense of the dissertation conducted under a committee of 5 professors
4. Combined Bachelor/Master's Degree Program
This program allows eligible students to earn bachelor's and master's degrees in five years by combining a bachelor's degree program and a master's degree program and reducing one semester from each of the programs (graduating after 3.5 years in the bachelor's program + 1.5 years in the master's program). It enables those who have fulfilled graduation requirements for a bachelor's program and exhibited outstanding scholastic performance and academic achievements to advance into the master's program in graduate school early by reducing the amount of time required to finish the program.

To be eligible for this program, a student must have completed a total of 96 units by the end of the first semester (fifth semester) of his or her third year in a bachelor's prgram at HUFS and earned a minimum GPA of 3.5. To apply to GSIAS under this program, a student's primary major in the undergraduate program must be related to the master's program he/she is applying for and he/she must obtain a recommendation from the head professor of the department in GSIAS he/she is applying to (department of major). Students shall be selected on the basis of document review and interview.
 
GSIAS website