It’s easy to see why, when planning an educational tour to Korea, Seoul might feel like the natural best fit. The nation’s capital is awash with history and cutting-edge developments alike, making it a great all-rounder location for a variety of subject areas. However, lying beyond Seoul are a number of other fantastic destinations, all across South Korea, that provide enriching, engaging insights into STEM, sports, and history – and allow students to explore another side of Korean culture.
Why Plan a School Trip to South Korea Beyond Seoul:
🌏 Broader Cultural Exposure
While Seoul offers an incredible blend of heritage and modernity – providing a fantastic window into Korean life – exploring the regions and cities beyond it allows students to experience the regional diversity of the fascinating country, allowing them to dive deeper into local traditions and customs, dialects, and regional cuisines. By broadening your school tour’s destinations, you enable students to develop a more nuanced, well-rounded understanding of Korean culture.
📖 Key Subject Learning Opportunities
Up and down the country, you’ll find many different opportunities for subject-specific learning based on a region’s industry, history, and key landmarks. For example, while a trip to Paju provides amazing historical and political learning opportunities, business students will find much to explore in the forward-thinking Busan. By heading beyond Seoul on a school trip, you’ll unlock enriching experiences that will engage students with their subject and learning objectives.
🚶➡️A Slower Pace
Seoul’s status as an international hub – and key tourist destination – means that it’s often a busy place to be. While a visit here provides access to incredible landmarks and immersive experiences, swapping the vibrant hustle and bustle of the city for regions beyond it allows students to slow down, interact with locals, and take the time to gain a deeper understanding of the area’s culture and people.
❤️ Encouraging Responsible Tourism
We’re always keen to ensure that our student tours to Korea both maximize the potential learning opportunities from the country and encourage visitors to counteract the pressures of tourism where possible. By taking your trip beyond Seoul, we’re able to spread the economic value of the trip to more communities and help students develop a more nuanced understanding of said communities, helping shape them into true global citizens.
Key Educational Destinations in Korea Outside Seoul
Busan
As Korea’s second largest city after Seoul, this industrious port city provides a fascinating window into another side of the country, with visits to landmarks like Gamcheon Cultural Village exploring the history of North Korean conflicts and migration heritage. However, it’s the city’s modern developments and thriving business culture that make it an incredible place to explore. On a business trip to Busan, students can:
- Visit the Busan Technopark, an R&D innovation hub that’s become a home for new businesses, training programmes, and technological developments.
- Meet with one of the city’s many local businesses, enabling students to gain valuable insight into global differences and similarities in business culture, customs, and industry mindset.
- Explore the city’s port of Busan, which provides a window into Korea’s role in global industries.
Alongside this, there’s also an incredible aquarium, amazing markets specialising in fish and regional cuisine, and opportunities for show-stopping experiences like evening yacht tours.
Suwon
While this fortress city might appear an immediate contender for a history visit – and indeed, a trip to the UNESCO Suwon Hwaseong offers incredible insight into 18th century Korean royal history – Suwon is actually an amazing destination for STEM students. While in Suwon, students can:
- Explore the Samsung Innovation Museum, where they’ll learn about the history of the electronics industry at large, and trace the development of Samsung’s technologies. This museum also offers the chance to explore the modern innovations taking place right now in their various exhibition halls, and also features an education centre.
- Get a more light-hearted view of one of modern society’s developments with a visit to Mr Toilet House – yes, you heard us right! Haewoojae Museum (often known by its more colloquial name) is a quirky institution dedicated to the history of toilet science, and is a day out that’s both fun and educational.
Beyond this, students can also get a tasty insight into regional cuisine in Chicken Alley, explore the Starfield COEX Mall & Library, and visit the beautiful Haenggung-dong Mural Village.
Daejeon
But Suwon isn’t the only place students can gain a window into the scientific developments made in Korea. A visit to Daejeon, an area in central Korea sometimes referred to as the country’s answer to Silicon Valley, provides even further opportunity to engage with the sciences. While on a school trip to Daejeon, students can:
- Visit KAIST, the Korean Advanced Institute of Science & Technology. This amazing national research university provides tours that shows students the cutting-edge research being carried out across the 5 campuses. You might even get the opportunity to learn first-hand about the work being done here, with a Q&A session featuring local students.
- Explore the National Science Museum, an engaging home to all things STEM. In this museum, students explore interactive exhibits and take part in hands-on experiments, designed to develop understanding around AI, robotics, space science, biotechnology – and much more.
However, you might also use Daejeon as a base for a martial arts school trip to Korea. Located around 90 minutes from the city is Muju, an area that’s home to Taekwondon – an international hub for martial arts practioners and students that offers training facilities, martial arts classes, and even on-site stays.
Paju
Located north of Seoul, Paju is an incredible city for history students to base themselves in, allowing them to gain a deeper cultural understanding of South Korea’s own history and role in international events. While in Paju on a history or culture tour to Korea, students can:
- Head an hour outside to the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) that separates North and South Korea. Here, students learn about the military history of the region, and can take tours of the Dora Observatory and infiltration tunnels built underground.
- Take a ride on the Paju Imjingak Peace gondola, providing an amazing birds-eye view of the DMZ’s many sites, as well as Camp Greaves.
- Visit the Gloucester Hill Battle Monument, a beautiful site of reflection dedicated to the lives lost in the 1951 Battle of Imjin River – known by many as the bloodiest engagement endured by the British Army since the Second World War.
While in Paju, students can explore the local area with visits to places like the Heyri Art Village, a beautiful area built by artists, musicians and creatives that’s now home to quirky museums, galleries, and cafés.
Gyeongju
For history and culture students, however, there’s nowhere better to explore than Gyeongju, the historic heart of the nation. Often referred to as ‘the Museum Without Walls’, Gyeongju’s role as the ancient capital of the Silla Dynasty means that it’s home to endless royal tombs, archaeological sites, and traditional examples of Korean architecture. While on an educational tour here, students can:
- Visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Bulguksa Temple, a stunning complex that’s the head temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism and is home to beautiful gilt-bronze statues of Buddha.
- Explore Cheomseongdae Observatory, which dates back to the 7th century as is considered the oldest astronomical observatory in Asia.
- Discover the Daereungwon Ancient Tombs, a network of 23 tombs that house kings, queens and nobles of the Silla Dynasty.
There’s also the chance for an immersive temple stay at the Golgulsa Temple, providing students with the opportunity to stay overnight in true Buddhist fashion, taking part in meditation sessions, archery classes, and Sunmudo training.
If you’d like to learn more about our Learning Adventures to South Korea, you can view a selection of our standard itineraries here. Alternatively, you can reach out to our team by form, phone, live chat, or email.
This post is courtesy of:
Looking for a DMC?
If you’re an agent or company looking for a DMC service specializing in South Korea, look no further. Find out more about our South Korea DMC services here.
