What College of Charleston Students Learned While Studying Abroad in South Korea
College of Charleston students gained global career skills, cultural perspectives and lifelong connections during an immersive study abroad experience in Seoul, South Korea.
Above: College of Charleston students navigating Seoul by public transportation. (Photos by Samantha Connors)
The College of Charleston’s study abroad program in Seoul, South Korea, is about far more than sightseeing.
During this 18-day faculty-led program, students meet with professionals in the tourism and hospitality industry, explore South Korea’s history and culture, navigate Seoul’s transportation system and experience firsthand how the city has become a global destination for tourism, business and innovation.
“This is more than just a trip. It’s a hands-on learning experience,” says Young Hoon “Hunter” Kim, College of Charleston hospitality and tourism management professor and director of the Michael and Amy Bennett School of Hospitality and Tourism Management.
During the 2026 program, students brought a variety of academic perspectives. Some studied hospitality and tourism management, while others focused on international studies, international business and marketing.
“The program focuses on the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) and convention industry, which is an important field of study for business majors as well as students from many other disciplines,” says Kim. “Students also have the opportunity to learn in Seoul, one of the world’s leading destinations for AI and IT businesses and innovation.”
The program concludes with a destination marketing project, where students apply what they learned about Korean culture, business and tourism to develop a real-world marketing campaign promoting Seoul or South Korea.
“To complete these projects successfully, they needed to develop a solid understanding of Korean culture, basic language skills and the country’s business environment,” says Kim.
South Korea Study Abroad Program at a Glance
- Location: Seoul, South Korea
- Length: 18-day faculty-led program
- Courses: HTMT 380: Managing Global Tourism and INTB 309: International Business Study Abroad
- Focus areas: Global tourism, international business, MICE industry, cultural exchange and destination marketing
- Final project: Students create a destination marketing campaign promoting Seoul or South Korea
Skills Students Developed Through Study Abroad
Through classroom learning, professional visits and cultural experiences, students strengthened skills in:
- Cross-cultural communication
- Global business awareness
- Destination marketing strategy
- Professional networking
- Adaptability in unfamiliar environments
- Working across cultures
How Study Abroad Builds Global Career Skills
Networking Opportunities
Students arrived in South Korea ready to learn, explore and connect with professionals working in the country’s tourism and business industries. For students interested in international careers, the experience provided opportunities to build relationships with industry leaders and gain insight into global career paths.
“CofC faculty-led programs have a lot of connections in the places we’re going,” says Julia Gess, a senior majoring in marketing and international studies with a concentration in Europe.
“If you want to work abroad, this is a great experience to meet people and get your foot in the door,” she says. “It’s basically like having one-on-one interviews with highly professional people. You can’t email them and set that up just being a stranger.”
Though Gess is unsure whether she will work abroad after graduation, her study abroad experiences have shown her that an international career is possible.
The program also allowed her to apply skills from her academic studies in a real-world setting.
“In the international studies program, they teach you a lot about how to observe culture and apply yourself into it,” she says. “It’s really interesting to me to see that I’m using skills I’ve learned for the last three years. And when I’m using it, I feel confident in my understanding.”
Building Global Perspectives Through Hospitality
One of the program’s goals is to introduce students to different cultures, industries and approaches to business.
“Charleston offers a really great lens into luxury hospitality, and hospitality in general. But I definitely wanted to see a different area of hospitality and what service looks like in a different country.”
Julia Bianchini
Senior Hospitality and Tourism Management Major
“They learn how to adapt and apply these experiences and insights to their own culture and business environment,” says Kim. “This ability to understand and work across cultures is a key outcome of the program.”
For hospitality students interested in working in Charleston, the experience also offered new ideas they can bring back to the Lowcountry.
“Charleston offers a really great lens into luxury hospitality, and hospitality in general,” says Julia Bianchini, a senior majoring in hospitality and tourism management with a minor in communication. “But I definitely wanted to see a different area of hospitality and what service looks like in a different country.”
As a Beemok Hospitality Collective Service Leadership Scholar, Bianchini regularly learns from hospitality leaders and executives.
“A lot of hospitality executives, when they’re giving us advice, say how valuable it is to travel and see how businesses, companies, hotels and restaurants operate in different parts of the world,” she says. “They really promote going out before bringing all that knowledge back to Charleston and becoming the most informed employee you can be.”
Cultural Immersion Through Food, Service and Tradition
Cole Benner, a junior hospitality and tourism management major with a minor in Asian studies, says he has known his career path since age 8.
He wants to be a chef.
Studying abroad in South Korea gave Benner the opportunity to explore the history and traditions behind Korean cuisine.
“The only way to really understand food is to go to the place where the people who make it live, eat and grow it. Then you learn the tradition behind it, the history, suffering, joy and resourcefulness,” he says. “Food is such an example of our human condition. Every place has cuisine that tells a story about that place.”
Benner embraced the opportunity to try the many dishes that make Korean cuisine unique. While he is interested in flavor profiles and cooking techniques, he finds deeper meaning in the connections food creates.
“It’s just food at the end of the day,” he says, “but what really matters is how it brings people together and what it means to a society.”
South Korea was Benner’s second study abroad experience, following a three-week program in Thailand. Both experiences strengthened his belief that some of the most meaningful lessons come from being fully immersed in another culture.
Now, he is considering a summer exchange program working on a farm in France to deepen his respect for the land and the people who grow our food.
“For me, it’s about food,” he says, “but whatever it is for you, what can you only learn by going to that place?”
Other students experienced cultural immersion through the values and traditions woven into everyday life in South Korea. Through hospitality experiences, shared meals and cultural activities, students gained a deeper appreciation for service, connection and consideration for others.
“The service industry here is very much about being attentive and trying to be helpful toward others,” says Wyatt Van Wagner, a junior majoring in hospitality and tourism management. “That’s a big reason why I got into hospitality.”
Gess noticed that same spirit of thoughtfulness in everyday interactions.
“There’s a culture around eating where you set the silverware for the person across from you or next to you,” she says. “It’s so centered around selflessness.”
Shared Experiences Build Community
Studying abroad gives students the opportunity to build meaningful connections with their peers, professors and the communities they visit outside the classroom.
For Benner, those connections came through shared experiences, including something as simple as sitting down for a meal together.
“I realized I can’t go out to eat by myself here because the culture is so centered around sharing, and I would have never known that,” he says. “It’s so valuable. And it’s so valuable to be willing to learn.”
The experience also challenged students to step outside their comfort zones and embrace new ways of connecting with others.
“It’s really a matter of challenging yourself,” Bianchini says. “I’ve learned that you’re going to get the best experience and most value when you make yourself a bit uncomfortable. I think going somewhere farther away where there is this big language barrier, and the culture is a lot different, that’s going to reap the most reward for me as a student and as a person.”
Before the Seoul program began, Bianchini traveled independently to Japan. While she valued that experience, she found that studying abroad with a group created a different kind of connection.
“Studying abroad with a group is more of a collaborative effort,” she says. “We’re trying to get this shared experience together and learn how we can navigate being in another country together.”
Benner, who also traveled solo before the program started, found that the group experience introduced him to students with different majors, backgrounds and perspectives.
“You’re thrown in with a group of random people, and you have to find camaraderie,” he says. “Everyone’s learning at the same time, so it’s a shared experience. Everyone handles it differently, but I think you can learn a lot out of that.”
The connections Caroline Rasmussen, a junior majoring in hospitality and tourism management, formed during the trip became one of the most memorable parts of her experience.
Although she only knew a few people before arriving in South Korea, she found that the group quickly became a source of connection and support.
“This trip has been such an experience. I couldn’t replicate anything,” Rasmussen says. “It’s genuinely been such an amazing group of people. You can’t ask for anything better.”
For many students, those shared moments become some of the most lasting memories of their college experience.
“I’ve met my best friends through CofC study abroad programs,” says Nikki Cichocki, a junior majoring in hospitality and tourism management and international business who also participated in a spring break trip to Banff, Canada. “I’ve met so many amazing people, and I think it’s better to go in not knowing anyone and building that connection through this experience.”
Discovering New Perspectives
Beyond exploring a new country, studying abroad gives students the opportunity to explore their own goals, identities and connections in new ways.
The trip offered Rasmussen a meaningful opportunity to explore a personal connection to Asia. Though studying abroad was not originally part of her plans, learning more about the program changed her perspective.
“I didn’t originally plan on studying abroad,” she says. “But the more I looked into it, the more it seemed like such a cool opportunity.”
Rasmussen says the experience helped her explore a connection to her maternal family’s Chinese heritage.
“Being able to go on a trip like this, I feel like I’m kind of connecting with another side of myself,” she says. “It really opened my eyes. Before, I knew I wanted to go to China, but now, I feel like I need to go to understand more of myself.”
As a College of Charleston tour guide, Rasmussen regularly shares her enthusiasm for the College with prospective students and families. She hopes her own experiences, including studying abroad, will encourage others to take advantage of opportunities that help them discover new perspectives.
“It’s such a great community, and you really get to meet potential students and share your love for the College,” she says. “When they really fall in love with the College, you can see it happening, and it’s like, Wow, I played a part in them loving the school that I love so much.”
For Connor Perr, studying abroad represented a different kind of personal milestone. The trip pushed him to explore a part of the world he had never experienced before.
“I’m actually the first person in my family to go to Asia,” he says. “It’s such a life-changing opportunity.”
As a hospitality and tourism management and communication double-major, Perr also recognized how the experience connected to his future career.
“One of the key things about hospitality is experience,” he says, “and this is one of those experiences that you can really learn from.”
Gess found that seeing other cultures also changed the way she viewed her own communities.
“There’s so much culture and community in the places I’ve been,” says Gess, who previously studied abroad in Belgium. “It helps me find that same thing in the place where I’m from. I can recognize similarities in traditions and representations through different cultures, and it creates a deeper appreciation.”
Study Abroad Scholarship Opportunities
Many students interested in studying abroad wonder about the financial reality of participating in an international program.
For semester-long College of Charleston–led programs, students pay in-state tuition. Shorter CofC-led programs, including the Seoul trip, Maymesters and spring break experiences, also offer in-state tuition, as well as scholarship opportunities to help make studying abroad more accessible.
Students can apply for scholarships through a centralized portal, with some awards encouraging students to continue sharing their experiences through written reflections, blog posts or social media content.
“I really feel like the College and Dr. Kim made sure we knew about scholarships for the trip,” Rasmussen says. “They’re really accessible.”
Cichocki says the scholarship application process makes it easy for students to find funding opportunities.
“Everything is through the same scholarship portal, so it’s really simple,” she says. “You fill out a basic questionnaire about yourself, and then you apply for the scholarships that are recommended for you.”
How Study Abroad Prepares Students for Future Careers
The lessons students gain in South Korea will continue to shape how they approach their careers and communities.
RELATED: How Study Abroad Shapes Careers After Graduation
Through working across cultures, adapting to new environments and building a deeper understanding of global perspectives, students developed communication skills, confidence and cultural awareness that will serve them long after returning home.
For many, the experience also sparks new career inspiration and a desire to continue exploring opportunities beyond the classroom.
FAQs About the South Korea Study Abroad Program
Students spent several weeks in Seoul, South Korea, combining classroom learning with cultural experiences, industry visits and hands-on exploration.
The program included visits to major cultural and business destinations such as the COEX Convention and Exhibition Center, Uijenongbu (UJB) City Hall, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Bukchon Hanok Village, the National Museum of Korea and the War Memorial of Korea.
Students also participated in cultural experiences, such as a traditional Korean tea ceremony, Korean cooking activities, a Korean folk village visit and a K-Pop performance. Additional excursions included a visit to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and opportunities to explore South Korea’s tourism, hospitality and retail industries through professional site visits and city tours.
Through these experiences, students connected classroom concepts to real-world examples of destination marketing, international business and Korean culture.
Students enrolled in either HTMT 380: Managing Global Tourism or INTB 309: International Business Study Abroad, exploring global tourism, international business, cultural exchange and global markets.
As part of the program, students completed a final project where they created a marketing plan applying course concepts to an international context.
For international business and international studies majors, the South Korea Maymester can also help fulfill the required three credit hours of study abroad coursework while allowing students to participate without missing a full semester on campus.
The South Korea study abroad program was led by Young Hoon “Hunter” Kim, College of Charleston hospitality and tourism management professor and director of the Michael and Amy Bennett School of Hospitality and Tourism Management.
Students also collaborated with a faculty member from Sejong University in Seoul. Their combined expertise helped students connect classroom concepts with real-world cultural, business and tourism experiences throughout the program.
Through classroom discussions, cultural experiences and visits to local organizations, students developed a deeper understanding of global business, tourism and communication across cultures.
The program encouraged students to adapt to new environments, collaborate with peers and gain an international perspective that can support their future academic and career goals.
