Kim will be the first Asian-American and the first Korean to head an Ivy League institution, which is "very meaningful to Koreans," according to Kang Shin-Who, a Korean journalist who wrote a March 3 article about Kim's appointment in The Korea Times, a national newspaper based in Seoul.
Chris Hanscom, an Asian and Middle Eastern languages and literatures professor at Dartmouth, said in an e-mail that all major newspapers in Korea covered Kim's selection.
"The mainstream South Korean media has portrayed Dr. Kim's appointment in a positive light," Hanscom said in the e-mail.
Kim's prominence in the Korean media may be partially due to the country's emphasis on higher education, according to Tom Plate, founder of the web site AsiaMedia, who published a column about Kim in The Korea Times on March 3.
"It may be that more people have heard of Dartmouth in South Korea than in South Carolina," Plate said.
Koreans generally have a high expectations for themselves and their children, Plate said.
Kim's appointment was "prominently displayed" in Korean papers, Plate said, because Koreans have "a lot of national pride." Korean academics reacted to Kim's appointment with "euphoria," Plate said.
Prior to the appointment, Korean newspapers had covered Kim's accomplishments in the field of global health.
A March 5 editorial published in the Chosun Ilbo, another of South Korea's major newspapers, praised Dartmouth's presidential selection process. In Korea, presidents are selected every four years through "noisy election campaigns" that divide school officials according to "academic, social and blood ties," according to the article.
In contrast, the article said, Dartmouth's search committee selected "the best person to realize the university's vision, without attaching any conditions."
The controversy surrounding the March 3 edition of the Generic Good Morning Message, a student-written and edited compilation of the day's news that referred to Kim as a "Chinaman," was also covered by some major Korean newspapers, including Dong-A Ilbo, which reported on both the e-mail and the apology.
News of Kim's appointment has been widely covered by the Korean-American media as well.
Kim's appointment is "definitely newsworthy," Grace Yoo, executive director of the Korean-American Coalition in Los Angeles, said, adding that the Korean-American community is "elated" about Kim's new position at Dartmouth.
Kim's appointment brings hope to Korean-American youth who want to succeed in the "mainstream" United States, Yoo said.
"It's another barrier that has been broken," she said. "As people learn more about his accomplishments, his name will be one of those that will be revered."
Kim's previous work in global health was also widely featured, Yoo said.
Kim received the Korean-American Coalition's Distinguished Leadership Award in 2008 and leads the coalition's annual national college leadership conference.
