Sungkyunkwan University was founded at the beginning of the Joseon Dynasty in 1398 as the highest national educational institute in the early years of the Joseon Dynasty in Korea. As the oldest university in East Asia, it has fostered leaders of our society for over 600 years.

'SKKU's main ideology, 수기치인 (修己治人) pronounced 'Su-Gi-Chi-In', teaches that SKKU students strive to perfect themselves as leaders and contribute to our society.
This ideology is the fundamental principle by which SKKU brought up leaders of our society for over 600 years, thus contributing to evolution of our society. Sungkyunkwan University, continuously strives to integrate its founding tradition philosophy with the modern technology in order with a view to cultivating global graduate’ s talents who will lead the 21st century.

Old Sungkyunkwan was founded over 600 years ago by royal decree to promote education the scholarship in Confucianism. As nation's highest educational institution, Old Sungkyunkwan went through vicissitudes with the country it served over the centuries.

Though a long history alone cannot guarantee the excellence of an institution, the rich culture, is surely a unique and valuable asset of the university. What the university has achieved in the past fifty years meets and exceeds that of the preceding history. We take pride in the university's innovative spirit; as a result of the long efforts to place natural sciences on an equal footing with our strong foundation in humanities, we now operate two campuses: the Humanities and Social Sciences Campus and the Natural Sciences Campus.

Based on a highly successful partnership with Samsung which has generously funded several core initiatives, the university has been rapidly developing and prospering since 1996.