Department History
In September 1945, following national liberation, Bosung College, the predecessor of Korea University, reorganized its existing Departments of Law & Commerce into the Department of Political Science & Law and the Department of Economics & Business, respectively. The Department of Political Science & Law offered majors in Political Science and Law, while the Department of Economics & Business offered majors in Economics and Commerce. When Korea University was established as a research university on August 15, 1946, students who were admitted to the Department of Political Science & Law in Bosung College became second-year students in the College of Political Science & Law, Department of Political Science at Korea University. In June 1949, the department produced its first graduates, and in September of the same year, began the graduate program.
After the Korean War, the department underwent another phase of transformation. In 1955, Korea University abolished the College of Political Science & Law and established the College of Law, which included the existing Department of Law and the newly established Department of Public Administration, while the Department of Political Science & Law of the abolished College of Political Science & Law and the Department of Economics of the College of Economics & Business were included in the Division of Politics & Economics and attached to the College of Liberal Arts. In April 1959, when the Division of Politics & Economics at the College of Liberal Arts has been raised as the College of Politics and Economics, the name of the Department of Political Science was changed to the Department of Political Science & International Relations. Since 1960, the Department of Political Science & International Relations has been located within the College of Political Science & Economics. Apart from the implementation of the undergraduate program that allocated specific majors to second-year students from 1999 to 2015, there have been no major changes in the existing educational system.
The Department of Political Science and International Relations at Korea University, which has a proud history and tradition of being 80 years since its establishment in 2026, holds an undisputed top position in the field of political science. This is consistently proven not only through its status and achievements in Korean society and academia but also through various domestic and international department evaluations conducted over the past 20 years. In the first phase of the Brain Korea 21 (BK21) project initiated by the Ministry of Education in 1999 to support excellent graduate schools, it was solely selected in the field of political science. It was subsequently selected again for the second phase of the BK21 project in 2008 and for the third phase in 2013. Since 2010, it has consecutively ranked first in the department evaluations by JoongAng Ilbo, and in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, it maintained a position within the top 40 in political science from 2012 to 2017.
As a cradle for nurturing public talents with a historical sense of mission and a contemporary sense of duty, the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Korea University has produced the highest number of law school admissions for six consecutive years (2018-2023), with the highest proportion of graduates advancing to law school relative to the department size within the university. Specifically, the ratio of law school admissions to the department's admission quota exceeded 35% in 2021 and 2022. Additionally, in the 2021-22 period, the department produced 10 successful candidates in the Grade 5 Open Competitive Recruitment Examination (Administrative Examination) and 5 in the Foreign Service Officer Examination, achieving notable success in national examinations as well. To cultivate such public talents, the department operates various career exploration and mentoring programs. In the curriculum, it offers diverse courses related to the integration of law and politics and the exploration of international political realities, awarding micro-degrees in 'Law and Politics' and 'International Relations Specialist.' In the extracurricular activities, it runs various lectures and mentoring programs for career exploration each semester, as well as 'Small Group Activity Support Projects' for in-depth academic research and social issue exploration.
Building on its brilliant history and tradition accumulated over the past 80 years, the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Korea University continues to strive to fulfill its social contributions and public roles as a world-class educational and research institution.