The Korean Language Flagship Center (KLFC) at the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM) successfully competed in the AY 2024-2028 Domestic Flagship Program Grant Open Competition. On May 1, 2024, the Defense Language National Language Education Office announced the 2024-2028 Language Flagship programs in the U.S. The UHM Korean Language Flagship Center was selected as the only Korean language Flagship program and one of 19 language Flagship programs nationwide.
Since 2002, the KLFC has been dedicated to cultivating Korea specialists with Superior-level proficiency in Korean by providing an immersive language learning environment, tutoring programs, a one-year Capstone program in Korea, overseas internships, summer intensive domestic and overseas programs, merit and need-based financial aid, and ROTC Flagship scholarships. Additionally, many Korean Flagship Capstone students have received the prestigious Boren Scholarships. Christine Mau (Korean major and two minors in Japanese and Political Science) and Keziah Yoo (dual major in Biology and Korean) will participate in the Korean Flagship Overseas Program at Korea University in Seoul, Korea, starting in July 2024. They join the auspicious list of previous KLFC Boren scholars from UH Mānoa: Danica Lim (2009), Bowha Kang (2010), Tyler Miyashiro (2013), Ryan Tanaka (2016), Eloise Morris (2017), Jennifer Lee (2018), Brianna Leisure (2018), Kai Hong So (2018), Jameson Moore (2019), Shannon Pederson (2023), Maro Robertson (2023), and Elizabeth White (2023).
Mackenzie Migdal (dual major in Political Science and Korean) said at the end of her AY 2022-23 Korean Flagship Overseas Program at Korea University, “I’m proud of who I have become. Learning different languages expands our linguistic abilities and broadens our cultural horizons, fostering empathy and understanding. Languages connect us to the world, and I’m thankful to the Korean Language Flagship for teaching me this.” She graduated in Summer 2023. While completing her internship at VANK for the Capstone program in Korea, she was awarded the prestigious 2023 U.S. President’s Volunteer Service Award for promoting Homer B. Hulbert, an American missionary, journalist, and Korean independence activist.
Matthew Eteuati (dual major in Finance and Korean) is currently participating in the AY 2023-24 Korean Flagship Overseas Program at Korea University. In the long term, he wishes to be able to work for the Federal government or for a private enterprise where he can utilize his Korean language skills to forge new connections and develop contracts that are mutually beneficial to multiple parties. “The results achieved through international cooperation, regardless of the field, are exponentially larger than alone,” he said. “A superior proficiency in Korean language will allow me to bridge the two countries politically and industrially.”
The KLFC accepts applications all year round. Those interested in dual undergraduate degrees (i.e., their first major and BA in Korean), Korean proficiency improvement, a one-year overseas program in Korea, an overseas internship program in Korea, and professional careers in their future are strongly encouraged to apply. Flagship applications can be submitted on the UHM Korean Language Flagship Center website.
The College of Arts, Languages & Letters of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa offers a broad curriculum in English, foreign and heritage languages and literatures, second language studies, and linguistics. Its Asia and Pacific-focused curricula are unique nationwide, and its faculty regularly teaches over 25 languages. If you would like to support the college, please visit https://manoa.hawaii.edu/call/giving/