French students take less beaten track

French Ambassador Jerome Pasquier, center, smiles as he is surrounded by French students who gathered at the envoy’s residence in Seoul on March 23 for a networking reception. / Courtesy of French Institute in Seoul

Korea emerges as popular study abroad destination

By Kang Hyun-kyung

Sick and tired of China or Japan, two popular East Asian study abroad destinations, many French students have explored Korea as an alternative location.

The legion of French youths who are opting for the less travelled path is the driving force behind the sharp increase in French students in Korea in recent years.

Since 2013, France has surpassed Russia as the European country that sends the largest number of students to Korea.

Like many other young French, Etienne Brasseur, 21, said he had no idea what Korea was like before he came here last year as an exchange student at Korea University in Seoul.

“I chose Korea because I didn’t know anything about the country,” the political science major said. “I wanted to discover something very new.”

Brasseur was one of some 50 French students who gathered at French Ambassador to Korea Jerome Pasquier’s residence in Seoul on March 23 for a networking reception. All of the students were political science majors from elite French institutions, including Sciences Po. Some of them came to Korea as one-year exchange students and some were here for a short-term visit under the World Model United Nations program.

Brasseur believed he made the right choice with Korea because he’s already had many intellectually stimulating experiences in the seven months that he’s been here.

Brasseur discovered that collectivism is a dominant feature of the country. He also found out that student associations are an integral part of college life here.

His classmates are affiliated with several associations, such as high school alumni clubs and fraternities based on shared hobbies or interests.

“Korean students seem to identify themselves as a group,” Brasseur said.

Obedience is another characteristic he noticed in younger people in Korean society. Although seniority has its own merits, Brasseur feels younger people’s excessive deference to their elders may cost the country’s effectiveness. “I think seniority can do a disservice to innovation because younger people here are educated not to challenge older people. They are discouraged from saying ‘no’ to existing ideas,” he said.

Other French students also said Korea has dynamism and other merits that are very different from those of China and Japan.

Kemilia Bensassi, an exchange student attending Yonsei University, said her seven-month experience of Korea so far has been wonderful and fun. She considers Korean food one of her most amazing discoveries here.

The 20-year-old’s favorite Korean food is “soondubu jjigey,” a spicy tofu stew with seafood and fermented pepper paste that is considered an acquired taste by some foreigners. Bensassi said she is now addicted to the exotic, intense taste of Korean food, which makes French dishes bland in comparison.

Driving forces

East Asia emerged as a popular study abroad region for French youths after China became a global economic powerhouse. In addition, the rise of China came with mounting tensions with Japan, which caused young French political scientists to take a deep interest in the geopolitics of the region.

Driven by their curiosity and desire to challenge their minds, however, some young French took the less beaten path, choosing Korea, a lesser-known country sandwiched geographically between China and Japan, as their overseas study destination.

In 2009, less than 300 French students were in Korea for study. The figure tripled to 887 in 2014. This sharp increase in French students made France the No. 1 European nation that sends students to Korea since 2013. Previously, Russia had been sending the most students to Korea.

Compared with other continents, Europe lags far behind in terms of foreign students in Korea. In 2014, European students accounted for only some 4,400 of the 85,000 foreign students in Korea, while Asian students took the lion’s share, accounting for some 73,000 students, according to the Ministry of Education.

The data also showed that a fifth of the European students studying in Korea are French.

Ambassador Pasquier observed that Korea’s image as a technology power probably fueled the surge in French students in Korea in recent years.

“French people are very much aware that Korea topped the rankings in some technologies,” he said. “I think both Korea and France have lots of things their people can learn from each other.” Pasquier said “a dynamic Korea” might be another driving force behind the increase in French students here, noting that Korean students in France are also increasing.

“Lots of things are happening in this country. Korea is the country of the future. It is dynamic and trendy, both culturally and technically,” he said. “All of these students are twenty-somethings. Their living experiences in this country will have a lasting impact on the rest of their life.”

Park Jung-ho, a lecturer who has taught Korean literature to foreign students at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies for over 10 years, pointed at the Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown in 2010 as a crucial factor that could have affected the decisions of French youth to look toward Korea. According to him, Japan had long been the most popular East Asian destination for French students, but the country became less attractive owing to fears of radioactive leaks or contamination.

Park argued that the rapid increase in French students in Korea also seems to be linked with France’s centuries-old tradition in the study of humanities and the role of a French website that promotes Korean studies and literature.

“French students whom I’ve taught have a deeper understanding of literature, and their analysis of literary works is sharper than those of any other students,” he said.