Assemblyman Seodongyong: "Students Attend Online Classes, University Presidents Hold Face-to-Face Meetings at Luxury Hotels"

University Presidents Meeting, Korea Council for University Education Holds 31st Conference at Luxury Hotel

Amid COVID Resurgence, 132 Presidents Gather for Seminar at Busan Resort in July

Room Cost per Person 605,000 KRW... More Than a Coll

Data provided by the office of National Assembly member Seo Dong-yong

[Suncheon=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Hyung-kwon] It has been revealed that out of 40 board meetings, regular general meetings, and seminars held by the Korea Council for University Education (hereinafter referred to as K-CUE) from 2017 to this year, 31 were held at luxury hotels.

According to data received by Representative Seo Dong-yong from K-CUE on the 6th, about 150 people, including 132 university presidents, gathered at a luxury hotel in Busan on July 1-2, when the spread of COVID-19 was severe.

K-CUE is a statutory university council established under Article 10 of the Higher Education Act, with 199 four-year universities nationwide as members.

Its main role is to gather opinions from university presidents nationwide on major issues such as academics and finances and to make recommendations to the government.

Over the past five years, K-CUE has held 31 board meetings, regular general meetings, and seminars at luxury hotels, with total expenditures amounting to approximately 499.78 million KRW.

All expenses were paid from the K-CUE membership fee account.

Every year, universities pay membership fees to K-CUE ranging from several million to tens of millions of KRW, based on basic amounts and the number of students, from their school funds composed of student tuition fees.

In other words, meetings have been held at luxury hotels using student tuition fees.

K-CUE holds seminars every year during the summer vacation period where university presidents gather to share information and opinions on educational issues.

The main attendees include member university presidents, officials from the Ministry of Education and K-CUE, and reporters covering the Ministry of Education, with about 150 people gathering annually.

Last year’s summer university presidents’ seminar was canceled due to strengthened social distancing measures, but it was confirmed that in July, when the COVID-19 spread was severe, a seminar with 132 presidents was held at the Paradise Hotel located in Haeundae-gu, Busan.

Contrary to the seminar’s purpose of information exchange, the costs for meals and accommodation used for the event were also confirmed to be high.

At this year’s summer university presidents’ seminar, major attendees were provided with lunch costing 54,000 KRW per person, dinner costing 89,000 KRW, snacks costing 26,000 KRW, and wine as well.

The expenses for these meals alone amounted to about 21 million KRW.

Additionally, accommodation was provided for the attendees during the two-day seminar: K-CUE executives were given rooms costing 605,000 KRW per person, and the remaining 56 attendees, including event staff, were provided with standard rooms costing 140,000 KRW each.

Except for last year, K-CUE has been holding luxury hotel seminars every year at an average cost of about 72 million KRW per event.

Representative Seo said, “It is hard to understand K-CUE’s insistence on holding large-scale face-to-face meetings at hotels despite ongoing demands for tuition refunds from students due to prolonged non-face-to-face university operations caused by COVID-19,” adding, “Before appealing for universities’ difficulties, as a public institution representing universities, they must first correct their wasteful management.”

He continued, “Furthermore, regardless of the COVID-19 period, since K-CUE is operated with students’ tuition fees as the core stakeholders of universities, it should focus on gathering ideas and establishing policies that are practically helpful to students from the students’ perspective.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.