‘Top of Her Class at SKKU’ Koo Hye-sun to Graduate Early from KAIST Graduate School: “Next Is a PhD”

[The Financial News] Actor Koo Hye-sun, 41, has announced that she will be graduating early from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) graduate school.
On the 8th, Koo wrote on her social media, “My master’s thesis passed, so I’ll be graduating early. The freshly printed copy just arrived. Next is a PhD (?!) Victory!”
She also posted a photo of herself wearing academic dress and a mortarboard, along with a picture of the cover of her bound master’s thesis.
The cover shows the thesis title, “The Fifth Wall: Reprojection in the Age of One-Person Media.”
Koo Hye-sun first enrolled in the Department of Film at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) in 2011. After re-enrolling in 2020, she graduated in February 2024 as valedictorian, drawing wide attention. At the time, she earned a GPA of 4.27 out of 4.5.
In June of the same year, she was finally admitted to the fall semester master’s program at the KAIST Graduate School of Science Journalism.
The KAIST Graduate School of Science Journalism was established in 2010 to train experts in science–society communication, future strategy planning, and the future media industry.
While enrolled, Koo developed and launched KOOROLL, a hair roller that flattens out completely.
The product drew attention for its eco-friendly design, which eliminated the plastic frame that took up the most volume in conventional half hair rollers and reduced plastic use by 80 percent. It was also selected for the Korea Excellent Patent Award in 2025.
In line with its QAIST framework—presented as a core value of KAIST’s campus innovation strategy, encompassing creative talent, research, internationalization, technology value creation, and trust and communication—KAIST named Koo Hye-sun an outstanding achiever.

newssu@fnnews.com Kim Su-yeon Reporter