Seoul Foreign School's history introduced for lecture

Seoul Foreign School's production of "Cheaper by the Dozen," published in The Korea Times Nov. 28, 1985. Korea Times Archive

Seoul Foreign School has a long history. Founded by foreign missionaries in 1912, it has expanded from one class of 18 students to over 1,500.

SFS was originally known as Kyungsung Foreign School, but adopted its current name in 1964. It moved to its current campus in western Seoul's Yeonhui-dong in 1957, taking up position next to Yonsei University, which had also been founded by the Underwood family with the original name Yeonhee Professional School. In 1981, SFS merged with a British school.

Today, SFS is the oldest international school in Korea and one of the oldest in the world. It is also the first to offer International Baccalaureate education here.

SFS head Colm Flanagan will give a talk at Royal Asiatic Society (RAS) Korea this Tuesday introducing the school's long history. The lecture starts at 7:30 p.m. in the fifth-floor lounge of the FastFive building in Da-dong near Seoul City Hall. Entry costs 10,000 won or 5,000 won for students and is free for RAS Korea members. Attending online via Zoom is also possible. Visit raskb.com for more information.

Seoul Foreign School's former location in central Seoul's Jeong-dong, published in The Korea Times Oct. 11, 1986.

Korea Day at Seoul Foreign School, published in The Korea Times May 24, 1975.

Seoul Foreign School headmaster Richard F. Underwood, published in The Korea Times May 28, 1981.

Seoul Foreign School stages a production of "M*A*S*H," published in The Korea Times Nov. 4, 1982.

Seoul Foreign School field trip, published in The Korea Times April 27, 1983.

Seoul Foreign School drama class, published in The Korea Times May 8, 1985.