We had an interview with President Endicott, on February 26, 2013. We wanted know his opinions on Woosong and Korea. We wanted to know why he planned to make a four semester system and his future plans for Woosong and his life.
Woosong Herald Staff: Opinion about four semesters for a year system.
President John E. Endicott: The four terms per year comes out to maximize efficiency as much as possible. If you have a long break after studying a language, you can forget much of what you learned. To bridge the gap, the four semester system was introduced. Woosong students can now graduate 6 months earlier than the other universities. This can help you to become a graduate student faster. Also, if you don’t want to get a job immediately, you can stay on to improve your language skills as well as completion of professional certifications.
WHS: Your opinions about Woosong University and how it will manage in the future?
Endicott: Woosong is doing fine, and I can’t be any more happy. We are globalizing and establishing alliances with businesses and foreign universities that can be of help. We have a plan in 2020 to include many more foreign campuses but I wish to concentrate on continual globalization and want to establish continual globalization with universities that can be useful for our students. I want to make sure we can place our graduates in rewarding positions for all concerned.
WHS: What do you think of Korea?
Endicott: The Korean myth is never finished as in the ‘Miracle on the Han River’ and Daejeon’s location is central in all things. Korean youth have earned an impressive status by nurturing their minds. Universities and the government must continue to work together. The American President, Obama, refers to Korea whenever he talks about education. He highly appreciates it as a model of success.
I admire a culture rich in history. I admire Korean examples in education, and I am thrilled to have a chance to be a part of these stories.
WHS: Do you have any plans after retiring?
Endicott: Living as long as possible! Why? I have several books to write and movies to produce. My Air Force career let me take part in some of the Cold War. I had served from May 1958 to June 1986, and then served an additional three years as a senior civilian Director of the Institute for National Strategic Studies in Washington, D.C. So I served from the height of the Cold War and 31 years of the Soviet Union. I was in the Air Force from the Taiwan Straits Crisis of '58 to 1989 and actually participated in the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War, the 
Korean events of 1968-1969 -- the Blue House Raid, the USS Pueblo seizure, the EC-121 shoot down, the KAK 007 shoot down, etc.
I would also like to write about my life and my wife of 53 years, and I would like to produce movies of important moments about history in the 20th century when the Soviet Union and Mongolia defeated Japan’s attempted invasion that could have changed history.
So, you see, lots to do, but let's do Woosong first and think of retirement later, after all, I am only 77 this year.
Staff writers Shin TaeHee and Cho Wonha.
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