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The 'Creating 10 Seoul National Universities' policy is based on the recognition that the core problem lies in Korea's monopoly university system, and that entrance exams are merely a byproduct of the university hierarchy. As long as Korea maintains its monopoly system represented by 'SKY' (Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University), 'entrance exam hell' is inevitable. Experts argue that the only way to find a solution to the entrance exam problem is to raise the level of the nine regional flagship national universities to match that of Seoul National University.

The university system abroad differs from Korea's "monopoly system." Experts say that although the United States has prestigious private universities collectively known as the Ivy League, including Harvard and Princeton, they are structured in a "pluralistic hierarchy." Getty Images Bank

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The university system abroad differs from Korea's 'monopoly system.' In the United States, there are prestigious private universities collectively known as the Ivy League, such as Harvard and Princeton. However, experts say they are structured in a 'pluralistic hierarchy.' Dozens of world-class universities are distributed across different fields, so the bottleneck and ranking phenomena in university selection are not as severe as in Korea, according to Professor Kim Jongyoung of Kyung Hee University, who devised the 'Creating 10 Seoul National Universities' policy. Of course, there is fierce competition to enter good universities in the United States, but not all students are obsessed with getting into elite schools. This is why the phenomenon of pouring huge amounts of money into private tutoring or repeating entrance exams multiple times does not exist in the United States.

In Europe, many countries have effectively achieved university equalization. Except for the United Kingdom and France, most European countries are composed of equalized universities without a so-called 'top university.' Tuition is almost nonexistent, so university education is virtually free. Both American and European universities have produced numerous Nobel laureates and outstanding entrepreneurs. Experts point out that the secret is that these universities have grown as 'research-focused universities.'

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Most of the world's top universities are research-focused institutions. The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) is commonly used as an indicator for evaluating research-focused universities. Seoul National University (ranked 86th) is the only Korean university in the ARWU top 100. The United States has as many as 38 universities in the top 100, while Japan's University of Tokyo and Kyoto University are both ranked within the top 50.

Experts say that the biggest obstacle for Korea's regional flagship national universities, which are candidates for the 'Creating 10 Seoul National Universities' policy, to grow as research-focused universities is a lack of budget. Professor Kim stated, "Research-focused universities in the United States typically have annual budgets of 3 to 4 trillion won, but Seoul National University's budget is only about 2 trillion won." Busan National University's budget is reportedly only 800 billion won.

Korea's education budget has long exceeded 100 trillion won, but government investment in university education remains low compared to other countries. According to the 2024 OECD Education at a Glance report, Korea's per-student public expenditure on education is below the OECD average only at the 'university' level. At the higher education stage, which includes universities, Korea's per-student public expenditure is $13,573, which is just 66.2% of the OECD average of $20,499. The absolute amount of public expenditure per university student is also lower than that for elementary and secondary students. This contrasts with advanced countries in university education such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany, where more public funds are invested in higher education than in elementary and secondary education.

Professor Kim said, "During the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, the annual fiscal deficit reached 100 trillion won, and private education expenses exceeded 30 trillion won per year. Considering that it would take an additional 3 trillion won annually to create universities like Seoul National University, the government would only need to invest 0.5% of its budget, which exceeds 600 trillion won." He also said, "In the 1970s and 1980s, regional flagship universities such as Busan National University, Kyungpook National University, and Chonnam National University were on par with Yonsei University and Korea University. If the government invests about 300 billion won annually in each flagship national university and concentrates investments in artificial intelligence (AI), information technology (IT), biotechnology (BT), semiconductors, and culture, I believe we could restore them to their former status within five years."

The "University of California Master Plan" began with the goal of transforming 10 public universities, including UC Berkeley and UCLA, into research-focused institutions and was completed in 1960. Ten years ago, no Chinese universities ranked within the top 100 in this ranking, but last year, 13 universities, including Tsinghua University, were ranked within the top 100. There are cases of universities overseas that have grown rapidly in a short period by concentrating budget support. Getty Images Bank

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There are cases overseas where universities have achieved rapid growth in a short period through concentrated budget support. One example is the University of California system in the United States. The "University of California Master Plan," which began with the goal of transforming 10 public universities including UC Berkeley and UCLA into research-focused institutions, was completed in 1960. Although there was strong resistance to maintaining a monopoly system centered on the University of California, Berkeley, which was established in 1869, the plan was implemented through the determination of local politicians and then-President Clark Kerr.

Liang Wenfeng, founder of DeepSeek, which triggered the "DeepSeek Shock," is a graduate of Zhejiang University in China. Zhejiang University is now ranked 27th in the ARWU. Just ten years ago, no Chinese universities were ranked within the top 100 in this ranking. However, last year, 13 Chinese universities, including Tsinghua University, were ranked within the top 100. This shows that the United States is not the only country to benchmark.

Democratic Party lawmaker Youngbae Kim and some current and former presidents of national universities and superintendents held a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Hall in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 20th of last month, proposing the policy of "Creating 10 Seoul National Universities (tentative name) for National Balanced Development." Yonhap News

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'Creating 10 Seoul National Universities' was also included in President Lee Jaemyung's campaign pledge. While it may not be possible to fully accomplish this within a five-year administration, it is possible to take the first step toward laying the foundation.

Yang Obong, former president of Jeonbuk National University, who announced the "Policy Proposal for Creating 10 Seoul National Universities for National Balanced Development" at the end of April, said, "The entrance exam bottleneck that funnels students into a few universities in Seoul is the reality of entrance exam hell, and it is the cause of the concentration in the capital area, the outflow of local talent, and regional stagnation. We need to reestablish integrated national universities in the regions."

Cha Jungin, former president of Busan National University, said, "Flagship national universities will have to make painful efforts, and the core of the policy should be to establish a 'co-growth university cooperation system' between flagship national universities and local national and private universities."

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