Seoul National University

Seoul National University  was launched in its existing form in 1946. It situated on three campuses: the primary campus in Gwanak and two additional campuses in Daehangno and Suwon. The university includes sixteen colleges, one graduate school, and nine professional schools. The student body consists of nearly 17,000 undergraduate and 11,000 graduate students. Since its establishment, Seoul National University is widely known to be the most prestigious university in the country.  According to data collected by KEDI, the university uses more on its students per capita than any other university in the country that enrolls at least 10,000. Seoul National University embraces a memorandum of understanding with over 700 educational institutions in 40 countries, World Bank and country's first general educational exchange program with the University of Pennsylvania. The Graduate School of Business recommends dual master's degrees with Duke University, ESSEC Business School, and the Peking University, double-degrees at the MIT Sloan School of Management and Yale School of Management and MBA-, MS-, and PhD-candidate exchange programs with universities in 10 countries on 4 continents. The university's international faculty count is 242 or 4% of the total. Noble laureate Paul Crutzen and Fields Medal recipient Hironaka Heisuke are on the faculty roster.

Pre-establishment

Seoul National University begins from various education institutions which were founded by King Gojong of the Joseon Dynasty. Several of them were combined into various colleges when later Seoul National University was launched. To modernize the country, Gojong commenced the foundation of modern higher academic institutions. By resources of the issue of a royal order, the law academy Beopkwan Yangseongso was founded in 1895. It created 209 graduates including the later diplomat  Yi Jun. Hanseong Sabeomhakgyo (founded in 1895), a training school for teachers and Euihakkyo (1899), a medical school, are also believed the origins of respected colleges. After the announcement of theEmpire of Korea in 1897, Gojong, then emperor, was encouraged to build more modern education institutions. In 1899, a medical school was launched. This school modified its name several times to Daehan Euiwon Gyoyukbu and Gyeongseong Euihak Jeonmunhakgyo (Gyeongseong Medical College) and finally became College of Medicine of Seoul National University. In 1901, a department for nursing was launched, which was the ancestor of the later College of Nursing. Throughout the Japanese rule, Keijo Imperial University was founded as one of Japan's 9 imperial universities. After World War II and the indepenence of Korea, the name of the university was amended from Keijō Teikoku Daigaku to Gyeongseong Daehak, Gyeongseong University. The Kanji letters, that were used in the name, were articulated in the Korean reading and the aspect "imperial" was eradicated.

Establishment

Seoul National University was launched on August 27, 1946 by combining 10 institutions of higher education around the area of Seoul. The College of Law was launched by combining the law department of  Kyongsong University with Kyŏngsŏng Law College. The university took up Seoul College of Pharmacy in September 1950, as the College of Pharmacy. This had formerly been a private organization. Around the  Korean War, the university was taken by North Korea and Seoul National Univertsiy Hospital Massarce happened,  then temporarily combined with other universities in South Korea, situated in Busan.

Relocation

Initially, the main campus was in Dongsung-dong, Jongno. After the construction of a new main campus in Gwanak in February 1975, most colleges of the university shifted to the new Gwanak Campus between 1975 and 1979. Part of the ex-main campus in Jongno is still used by the College of Medicine, the College of Dentistry and the College of Nursing and is now called Yongon Campus. In 2012 lawmakers detailed that the ruling Saenuri Party, in advance of the December presidential elections, seriously advised a plan to shift the university to the newly launched special autonomous Sejong City. The move came as part of an overall effort to disperse the capital's governmental tools. Initially the national government had proposed the university in 2009 to host the building of a satellite campus. It was accounted the following year that the university had regarded withdrawing from the Sejong plan. 

Campus

Seoul National University dwell in two Seoul-based and one Suwon-based campuses: the Gwanak Campus is located in the locality of Daehak-dong (former Sillim-dong), Gwanak-gu; and the Yongon Campus is north of the Han River in Daehangno, Jongno District; and the new Campus Suwon, in Iui-dong, Yeongtong-gu. The main campus in Gwanak-gu was founded in 1975 by the SNU Comprehensive Plan. Right now, there are about 200 buildings, over half of which have been built since 1990. The school’s medical, dental and nursing schools, as well as the main branch of Seoul National University Hospital, are on the previous site of Gyeongseong University’s medical department at the Yongon Campus. In 2003, the Colleges of Agricultural and Life Sciences and Veterinary Medicine were shifted from Suwon to Gwanak. In 2009, the Graduate School of Convergence Science Technology (GSCST), which included three departments (Nano convergence, Digital information convergence, Intellectual convergence), was launched in the new Suwon Campus.

Location

Gwanak Campus, the main campus, is situated in the southern part of Seoul. It is served by its own subway station on Line 2. Yeongeon Campus, the medical campus, is on Daehangno (University Street), northeast Seoul. The defunct Suwon Campus, the agricultural campus, also called the Sangnok Campus (Evergreen Campus), used to be situated in Suwon, about 40 km south of Seoul. The agricultural campus shifted to Gwanak in Autumn 2004, but some research facilities still exist in Suwon.

New Plans

In February 2010 Seoul National commenced a memorandum with the city of Siheung to launched a global campus. Signed with the city's mayor and governor of Gyeoggi for executive assistance, the university obtained 826 thousand square meters (204 acres) of property in the west-coast economic zone, near the Songdo International Business Business District, Pyeongtaek harbor,  international airport, seanalport. Seoul National UniversityLibrary is located at the back of the university administrative building in the 62nd block of the Gwanak Campus. In 2009, the library’s collection of books comprising all the annexes was 4 million volumes. The Central Library has built a digital library provides access to university publications, ancient texts, and theses.