THE PLAYING FIELD - South Korea universities fight back. Years of losing their best students to the West are prompting Korean universities to increase their English language course offerings in a bid to stop the brain drain. Yonsei and Korea University are offering more classes in English to prevent students from flocking to British and North American campuses and, attract foreign students of their own. In 2002, Korea University offered less than 10 percent of its classes in English, but the proportion rose to 35 percent last year and is expected to hit 60 percent by 2010. Yonsei, South Korea's oldest and most prestigious private university, has set up the Underwood International College (UIC), which offers a four-year program of all-English-language classes to compete with the best institutions in America and Europe. Universities in Japan and China are catching up by introducing similar programmes. Critics are sceptical of academic standards maintained by these English-language universities and, locals in South Korea fear the loss of their cultural heritage and identity due to the language infiltration. Asian students, however, aren't complaining. Northeast Asia's growing employment market has begun to favour students with domestic school connections. Plus, it makes economic sense to stay closer home. Source: "Asian universities switch to English," Newsweek, Feb. 26, 2007, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17202839/site/newsweek/