"10 Days Before High School Graduation, Mother's Move" Rural Admission Canceled by University... Court Rules in Favor of Student

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] A student whose admission under the 'rural and fishing village quota' was canceled just 10 days before high school graduation due to their mother moving to the city won an appeal lawsuit against the university.

According to the court on the 17th, the Civil Division 20 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Hyungseok) ruled in the first trial of the lawsuit filed by 20-year-old university student A against B University in Seoul, stating, "The cancellation of admission for the plaintiff is invalid," and "The defendant shall bear the litigation costs."

A, who had lived in a rural and fishing village area for over 10 years since elementary school, was admitted to B University's 2022 early admission rural and fishing village quota on December 16 last year. 'This admission type selected applicants who completed their entire education from entering middle school in a rural and fishing village area until high school graduation, and during this period, both parents and the student all resided in rural and fishing village areas. A completed document registration within two days and was assigned a student ID number. After graduating from high school on January 7 this year, A completed the university tuition payment by February 9.

However, B University canceled A's admission, pointing out that A's mother moved her resident registration to a non-rural area on December 27 last year, 10 days before A's high school graduation. The related admission guidelines specified the residence recognition period in rural and fishing village areas as 'until the university's registration deadline', which was interpreted to mean 'the tuition payment deadline (February 11)'.

A's mother changed her resident registration to a small city in Chungnam due to a job transfer, and during this process, her residence changed from an eup/myeon (township) to a dong (neighborhood), according to investigations.

A filed a lawsuit in objection. A's side argued, "The regulation is intended to relax the rural and fishing village residence requirement for prospective high school graduates," and claimed, "The 'registration deadline' should be understood as 'the document registration deadline for the first successful applicant, December 20 last year'."

The first trial ruled in favor of A. The court stated, "'The university's registration deadline' phrase is difficult to interpret as meaning 'tuition payment deadline,'" and pointed out, "It seems difficult for applicants to easily understand whether this phrase refers to document registration (payment of registration deposit) or tuition payment."

The court added, "'Eligibility' regulations significantly affect the legal status of applicants, so they must be interpreted strictly," and "If the content is unclear or doubtful, it is reasonable to interpret it restrictively against the drafter, the defendant." Even if A did not meet the eligibility, the court judged that this was largely due to the unclear content of the university's regulations.

Furthermore, the court stated, "Canceling the plaintiff's admission does not appear to restore the objectivity and fairness of the admission process, whereas the plaintiff is deprived of the opportunity to receive education at B University due to this disposition."

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