At 6:30 in the morning students at this school in the mountainous Gangwon Province head to the gym.
Still drowsy but this is how they carry out one of the most valued virtues in Korea filial piety.
[Reporter : Kang Chery
cherykang@arirang.co.kr] "Students in this school say their good-mornings and good-nights to their teachers with the utmost level of respect everyday. This is just one example of how the merge of what is traditional and modern is woven into their daily lives."
In this school where nurturing the gifted is the foremost goal most classes are offered in English with the exception of Korean, Korean history and Korean traditional music classes.
The twist here is that the English-intensive education is accompanied by remembering what is traditional through, for example, wearing Korean traditional attire like the hanbok.
[Interview : Choi Jungyun, Senior student
Korean Minjok Leadership Academy] "I believe that because we wear Korean traditional clothing, we have the identity we need. And it does not help only when we go abroad to have our own identity. It is important that one has a homebase where she can develop leadership."
Since the school was first opened back in 1996 adhering to the traditional brought up worries that students trained in Korean disciplines may not adjust very well to schools abroad.
[Interview : Yun Chungil, Headmaster
Korean Minjok Leadership Academy] "In fact, graduates say that they were able to do better because they learned genuine Korean things. They are saying efforts to go global are not so distinguished because that's what every student around the world is doing."
Looking for what is traditional is not only limited to special schools for future leaders.
Samulnori the traditional percussion quartet is practiced everyday here at a small school in Daejeon located in the center of Korea.
[Interview : Jo Wonchul, Student
Ojeong Middle School] "I started playing four or five years ago because it looked like fun when I would watch my older brother playing. It also relieves stress. Doing this everyday teaches me more about the Korean culture and it makes me proud that I can carry it on."
It's been sixteen years that the samulnori extracurricular program has been offered at this school.
And now almost one out of every five students takes part in samulnori, gayageum which is a twelve-stringed Korean harp and Taekwondo.
One of the school officials says that high schools also need to carry on these after-school programs for students to nurture their abilities and allow them to carry on the Korean spirit for a long time.
Kang Chery, Arirang News.
SEP 26, 2008
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Friday, SEP 03, 2010, (KST) 
