by KYW's Dr. Marciene Mattleman

Two generations ago only an hour from South Korea’s capitol, Seoul, the landscape was a flatland of rice paddies and scrawny trees.
 
According to a recent article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, a turnaround has taken place in an effort to change one of Asia’s poorest nations into the 11th largest world economy.

The plan is to attract more than 40 research institutes and at least 7 foreign campuses to a 52,000 acre business hub that will anchor the higher education complex.

The Netherlands Shipping and Transport College was the first to respond. Carolina State and Southern Cal are considering campuses there, too.

Subsidies are being offered to colleges that teach in English and there are support efforts to lure foreign professors. The goal is to create a global environment, beginning with the large numbers of South Korean students who go abroad to study.

While 22,600 foreign students came to South Korea to study in 2006, 100,000 South Koreans went to Japan.

The effort to attract and retain students is a bold initiative.