About Our Center

Dedicated to Cultivating Specialists in Korean language and culture with superior-level proficiency in Korean by providing an immersive language learning environment, tutoring programs, one-year capstone program at Korea University, overseas internships, summer intensive domestic and overseas programs, merit and need-based financial aid, and so forth. KLFC emphasizes three pedagogical issues: learner-centered education, proficiency-focused instruction, and integration of Korean culture through Content-based Instruction courses so that students acquire both language and culture education. Linguistic and cultural activities supplement the pedagogical issues creating an education that has depth as well as breadth. The KLFC closely cooperates with specialists in other academic disciplines through the Center for Korean Studies faculty in terms of curriculum and instructional materials development, joint advising sessions, joint innovative pedagogical and language acquisition research, workshops, and conferences.

The Korean Language Flagship Center (KLFC) at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa (UHM) is the first Korean language and culture center in the United States dedicated to cultivating Korea specialists with professional-level proficiency in Korean. The KLFC’s goal is to prepare American students to be capable of functioning in Korean as professionals in their chosen academic or professional fields.

UHM’s Korean Flagship Program (KFP) was established in 2002 as a post-baccalaureate non-degree program. In cooperation with the UHM’s Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures (EALL), the KFP transitioned into the KLFC in 2007 offering a Master of Arts degree in “Korean for Professionals.” The KLFC launched a Bachelor of Arts degree in “Korean for Professionals” in 2008.

The KLFC is part of The Language Flagship funded by the Defense Language National Security Education Office (DLNSEO).