Korean
The UW Korean language program provides a vibrant, fun, and engaging learning experience. Students can major or minor in the language.
Program Overview
The Korean program offers elementary through advanced Korean. Students can also explore relevant content courses throughout the year focusing on Korean dramas, K-pop, and other topics.
StudyAbroad
Course Information
Course Catalog
Language Courses
- KOREAN 101, 102, 103 First-Year Korean
- KOREAN 201, 202, 203 Second-Year Korean
- KOREAN 301, 302, 303 Third-Year Korean
- KOREAN 415, 416, 417 Readings in Korean Literature and Culture
Culture Classes
- KOREAN 360 Topics in Korean Literature and Culture
- KOREAN 365 Korean Pop Culture
- KOREAN 435 Seminar in Modern Korean Literature and Culture
- KOREAN 442 Special Topics in Korean Language and Culture
- KOREAN 415-417 Readings in Korean Literature and Culture
Faculty's Recent Research
Publications
- Handel, Zev. Chinese Characters across Asia: How the Chinese Script Came to Write Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese. University of Washington Press, 2025.
- Handel, Zev. Chinese Characters across Asia: How the Chinese Script Came to Write Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese. University of Washington Press, 2025.
- Cho, Heekyoung. 2023. Review of Transnational Hallyu: The Globalization of Korean Digital and Popular Culture, by Dal Yong Jin, Kyong Yoon, and Wonjung Min. Journal of Asian Studies 82, no. 4 (November): 731-732.
- Kim, Ungsan. “The Poet and the Theater: Perverse Reading and Queer Poetry.” Routledge Companion to Korean Literature, edited by Heekyoung Cho, London: Routledge, 2022, pp. 488-502.
- Cho, Heekyoung. 2022. “Redefined and Challenged: Anthologizing Korean Literary Studies.” In The Routledge Companion to Korean Literature, edited by Heekyoung Cho, 1-13. New York: Routledge.
- Cho, Heekyoung, ed. 2022. The Routledge Companion to Korean Literature. New York: Routledge.
- Kim, Ungsan. “Stateless Things (2011): Queer Cinema and the Critique of the Heteronormative Nation-State.” Rediscovering Korean Cinema, edited by Sangjoon Lee, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2019, pp. 473-485.
- Kim, Ungsan. “The Critical Social Turn of Queer Korean Cinema: Hospitality and the Temporal Economy of Queer Kinship in The Bacchus Lady (2016).” Korea Journal 58.2 (2018): 88-112.
- Cho, Heekyoung. 2017. “Transnationality and Coloniality in the Concept of
Modern Korean Literature.” Journal of Korean Studies 22, no. 1 (Spring): 69-99. - Cho, Heekyoung. 2016. Translation’s Forgotten History: Russian Literature, Japanese Mediation, and the Formation of Modern Korean Literature. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Asia
Center. - “Analysis and Value of Hentai Kambun as Japanese.” In Bjarke Frellesvig and Peter Sells (eds), Japanese/Korean Linguistics, Volume 20, 49-64. CSLI. 2013.
- Heekyoung Cho. “Book Review of Pak Kyŏng-ni, Land.” The Journal of Korean Studies 18:1 University of Washington: 2013.
- Soohee Kim, Emily Curtis, and Haewon Cho. You Speak Korean! Second-Year College Korean. Volume 4. Seattle: Paradigmbusters, 2010.
- Edith Aldridge. “Short Wh-movement in Old Japanese.” Japanese/Korean Linguistics, Volume 17. Ed. by S. Iwasaki, H. Hoji, P. Clancy, S. Sohn. Stanford: Center for the Study of Language and Information, 2009. 549-563.
- Soohee Kim, Emily Curtis and Haewon Cho. You Speak Korean! Second-Year College Korean. Volume 3. Seattle: Paradigmbusters, 2008.
- Ted Mack. “Japanese poetry of Yi Sang; A Collection of Poems.” The Columbia Anthology of Modern Korean Poetry, ed. David McCann. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.
- Soohee Kim, Emily Curtis, and Haewon Cho. You Speak Korean! First-Year College Korean. Volumes 1 & 2. Seattle: Paradigmbusters, 2003.
- Kaoru Ohta. “Kakari-musubi and Focus Structure.” Japanese/Korean Linguistics 10 (2002): 293-305.
- Soohee Kim, Emily Curtis. “Phonetic Duration of English /s/ and its borrowing in Korean.” Japanese/Korean Linguistics 10 , ed. Noriko M. Akatsuka and Susan Strauss. 2000.
- Soohee Kim. “What looks like a CV must be a CV.” Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Korean Linguistics, ed. B-S. Park and H-S. Yoon. International Circle of Korean Linguistics, 1998. 299-306.
- Kaoru Ohta. “Tense in the Subject Raising Construction.” Japanese/Korean Linguistics. 1997. 353-368.
Student Success Stories
- 2021-2022 UW Undergraduate Critical Language Scholars:
- Name unlisted | Marine Biology major | Award to study Korean
- 2012-2013:
- Quyen Tran | Psychology, to study Korean.
- 2009-2010:
- Kris Robinson | East Asian Languages and Literature major, to study Korean.
- 2008-2009:
- Ryo Kato | International Studies major, to study Korean.
More about Korean
Global
- Spoken by 81 million people as a first language.
Learning
- The Korean language is a unique, highly respectful language featuring a scientifically designed alphabet (Hangeul) created 1443, with 24 letters designed to mimic mouth shapes.
Culture & Diplomacy
- Korea ranks 4th largest economy in Asia and the 13th largest in the world as of 2025.
Travel & Career
- Opens doors to careers in technology, manufacturing, business, entertainment and education.
Discover More
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Gyeongbok palace with tourists walking
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Downtown Korea
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Bibimbap
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Woman in a Hanbok dress
