[Interview] Je Haejong, President of Samyook University, "Will Trace 120 Years of Medical Mission Roots"

Medical School: A Long-Awaited Project for the University, Foundation, and Denomination
Integration with Samyuk Health College Will Also Be Achieved

"The establishment of a medical school is part of the effort to rediscover the roots of Samyuk that have continued for 120 years. It must be realized, and we will strive to nurture Samyuk people who possess character and sincerity, as much as enhancing the school's brand value."

On the snowy 12th, I entered the main gate of Samyuk University in Nowon-gu, Seoul. The blue logo of Samyuk stood out across from Taereung of the Joseon Dynasty. Approaching its 120th anniversary, Samyuk University started from a seven-room hanok. It began with Uimyung School, established in 1906 by Pastor Smith in Sunan County, South Pyongan Province, near present-day Pyongyang Sunan Airport.

The roots of Samyuk University lie in the sacrifice and dedication of American Seventh-day Adventist missionaries. Pastor Smith led the establishment of Uimyung School under the mission to enlighten modern Joseon but lost his children to disease, and his strong supporter, missionary Schapenberg, eventually passed away from endemic disease.

To summarize, the Seventh-day Adventist Church first set foot in Joseon in 1904, Uimyung School was established in 1906 two years later, and Samyuk Seoul Hospital took root in 1908. Samyuk University has followed the history of missionaries leading Joseon's enlightenment through education and medical services in the late Joseon period. Also, the widely known Samyuk Soymilk and Samyuk Foods were created through the dedication of missionary Hailey. In the 1960s, he imported hundreds of dairy cows from the United States in three shipments, laying the financial foundation for Samyuk University. Samyuk Foods remains a solid economic base for the university. On the Samyuk campus, a ranch and silo still remain.

Je Hae-jong, President of Sahmyook University, is posing before an interview with Asia Economy. 2025.02.12 Photo by Yoon Dong-joo

On this day, I met President Je Hae-jong at the Samyuk University Centennial Memorial Hall. His face was tanned. He said he had recently returned from a business trip to Dubai. His tone was calm and his attitude respectful. Yet, when speaking about the 'future of Samyuk,' he was clear and resolute. We conducted the interview across a round table in the president's office.

Below is a Q&A with President Je.

-I became curious about the origins of the current campus as I entered Samyuk University.

▲We purchased the current campus site in 1948 and started from there. The land is around Taereung and Gangneung, originally royal land of the Joseon Dynasty. This story, dating back 77 years, is not well known to the public. When I assumed the presidency last March, recognizing that our brand was undervalued compared to its actual worth, I created the catchphrase 'SU-RISE.' Amid declining school-age populations and rapidly changing educational environments, we focused on strategic responses to ensure the university's sustainability. Samyuk University is also promoting practical education, expanding creative convergence education, and improving employment and entrepreneurship support systems. This year, 2025, is a very important year, one year before the 120th anniversary (currently 119 years). We will devote all efforts to preparing the university's future by using the 120th anniversary as a new leap forward.

-You mentioned that establishing a medical school is one of the core tasks.

▲The establishment of a medical school is a long-cherished project not only for the university but also for the school foundation and the Seventh-day Adventist Church denomination. It is also connected to finding the roots of Samyuk and the missionary activities in the late Joseon period. The denomination has long wished to establish a medical school to expand the mission of medical ministry and enhance the Samyuk brand value. We have discussed plans with the Ministry of Education to establish a medical school campus with a capacity of 50 students in Naepo New Town, Chungnam, but unfortunately, we have not yet secured the opportunity. We will continue to challenge and proceed cautiously.

President Je Hae-jong of Sahmyook University is being interviewed by Asia Economy. 2025.02.12 Photo by Yoon Dong-joo

-I heard about a department composed solely of international students. Are you aiming to become a global university?

▲Currently, the language institute has about 100 students, and we plan to increase this to over 500, linking it to undergraduate and graduate programs to establish an 'integrated management system for international students centered on the language institute and undergraduate programs.' We are strengthening the dedicated professor system for international students to stabilize student management and developing not only exclusive courses for international students but also liberal arts lectures and extracurricular programs. In terms of infrastructure, we are expanding dormitories dedicated to international students and increasing exclusive spaces to provide a stable learning environment. We are also strengthening outbound internationalization by sending Korean students abroad. Recently, in addition to North America and Western Europe, we have been enhancing cooperation with universities in the Middle East. At the end of January, we visited six universities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with a student volunteer group. We signed MOUs with three of these universities. Rather than simple agreements, we collaborated with Korean culture clubs at local universities to operate performances and various cultural exchange programs with students. We plan to continue strengthening international exchanges with the Middle East region.

-I am curious about the specific content of 'SU-RISE.'

▲'SU-RISE,' announced at my inauguration, means raising the Samyuk brand value by creating an educational platform based on Christian spirit (Revival), being innovative (Innovation), and sustainable (Sustainability) engagement. Next year, 2026, marks the 120th anniversary of Samyuk University. It is not just a historical commemoration but an opportunity to redefine Samyuk University's educational philosophy and strengthen the university's status internally and externally through 'SU-RISE.' Specifically, we are planning various projects such as the 'SU-RISE Project' to build an underground campus, a 120th anniversary donation relay campaign, a global campaign to expand the university brand value, an international academic conference commemorating the 120th anniversary, expansion of the global campus network and strengthening internationalization strategies, educational innovation, and establishing a vision for the next 100 years. The 'SU-RISE Project' is a spatial innovation plan centered on building an underground campus. By creating a complex underground facility, we will expand limited space and transform the surface into green space, becoming a carbon-zero campus without cars.

Je Haejong, President of Sahmyook University, is giving an interview to Asia Economy. 2025.02.12 Photo by Yoon Dongju

-What kind of students does Samyuk University have? What kind of students do you want to nurture?

▲Samyuk University was born from the dedication and sacrifice of missionaries 120 years ago. Starting as a cornerstone of modern Korean education, Samyuk University has grown into a global educational mission center producing talents who bring change worldwide. In the past, foreign missionaries came to Korea and laid the foundation for Samyuk University; now, Samyuk University directly sends talents worldwide and leads social change through education. Samyuk University promotes practical mission through holistic education. The goal is to nurture well-rounded talents balanced in intellect, spirituality, and physicality. (At this point, President Je introduced the concept of a 'asymmetric strategy,' explaining that Samyuk University's greatest strength differentiating it from other universities is nurturing students who possess not only intellect and physicality but also spirituality.) Beyond simple knowledge transfer, we operate social service courses, counseling support programs, smoking and drinking cessation health campaigns, environmental protection projects, domestic and international volunteer activities, and community-based education to help students grow as leaders who practice sharing and service and contribute to the community. All courses at Samyuk University aim to lead to experiences that create social value, which is the university's missionary direction. Domestic and international volunteer activities and global mission networks are also active. During this winter break, Samyuk University dispatched large volunteer teams to six overseas countries?Philippines, Nepal, Cambodia, Tunisia, T?rkiye, United Arab Emirates?and three domestic regions, conducting educational, medical, and exchange volunteer services.

-What is your strategy for attracting and nurturing talents?

▲We are activating scholarship programs to attract excellent students. Over the past five years, Samyuk University has provided the highest amount of scholarship per student among universities in the metropolitan area. More than half of the tuition is supported by scholarships, which is about 440,000 KRW more per student than the national average for general and education universities and about 550,000 KRW more than the metropolitan area average. Samyuk University is also the best university in the metropolitan area for overseas employment. The overseas employment rate in 2023 (according to University Alimi data) was 3.16%, the highest among metropolitan universities. It ranked first consecutively with 44 students in 2022 and 37 in 2024. This is the result of focused investment in overseas employment as a breakthrough in the stagnant domestic job market for several years. By independently developing and applying the AI-based major and career design system SUHO in the Department of Liberal Arts, we have strengthened students' freedom of major choice and supported demand-driven major and career design.

Interview by Lee Myung-jin, Head of Social Affairs Department

Summary by Reporter Lee Eun-seo

Who is President Je Hae-jong?

Je Hae-jong, president of Samyuk University (58), is a pastor. He graduated from Samyuk University's Department of Theology and served in pastoral roles at Taereung Church and others. Since his appointment as a theology professor at Samyuk University in 2012, he has been nurturing future generations for nearly 20 years. He became president last March. The motto he promotes for Samyuk University is 'Renewing People, Benefiting the World.' In his greeting on the university website, he writes, "The world's deficiency is not money, talent, knowledge, or technology. The true deficiency is a lack of character." In a speech to professors at the end of last year, he said, "Let's build a forest community where we lend each other shoulders and become gifts." Regarding the long-cherished project of establishing a medical school, President Je emphasized, "With well-established health-related departments such as nursing and physical therapy and Samyuk Hospitals nationwide, now all that remains is to bring in the medical school."