Sustaining Korean Studies: Challenges and Prospects in Philippine Higher Education Institutions

The view and reality of a bifurcated world are brought into stark relief by COVID-19. Those long-standing inequalities in different facets of life are exacerbated by the pandemic that has been widely acknowledged and documented. Scholars recognize that humanity has entered the era of “Covidscapes,” where there is a shared experience of the pandemic; but where segregation is felt at different levels due to its differential impact. While division and its many manifestations are not the makings of the pandemic; COVID-19 is amplifying long-standing binaries between the developed and developing; the affluent and the poor; and even the West and the East. While not exhaustive; this commentary lays out these prevailing divides and disparities from the lens and through the experiences of international students