South Korean universities will set up branches abroad as a new policy opens an easier path. Previously, the process required a lot of financial and diplomatic muscles to open branches abroad.
South Korean universities will now be able to set up campus across the South and Southeast Asia countries after new laws were passed to ease the requirements that had previously hindered them. The new rules which were announced on 24th September by the education officials, once they come into effect, will ease the financial and geopolitical burden that was a stumbling block for these universities.
South Korean policy change
During the announcements of these changes, an official from the ministry of education is quoted as saying:
We can export Korean university education to the ‘New South’ region to promote national interests and to improve the global competitiveness of universities through domestic and international exchanges.
The statement by this official shows the optimism on what this new policy promises. It is a breakthrough in the approach which these universities take to ensure that they have enough students for their courses. It has become difficult for universities to find students locally due to the declining population outside the capital, Seol. This problem is also expected to continue due to low birth rates projections in the coming years.
Streamlined policy for South Korea and neighbors
Before these policies, the universities that ventured abroad had some specific rules to follow. The first rule to adhere to is to ensure that their branches abroad are financially independent of their parent institutions. The second is that they were supposed to be set as separate local entities with the approval of their host governments. This posed huge diplomatic problems that most universities were not equipped to handle.
The policy was envisioned in 2016 and consultations carried out in the same year by President Park Geun-Hye‘s government. The plan was however shelved after the impeachment of the president.
This policy is expected to streamline the running of universities from abroad and South Korea. It will ensure that all course credits are standardized. It will also ensure that graduate programs taken abroad from these universities can act as a path to local South Korean universities doctoral programs. This will remove the cloud of confusion that existed between foreign students and local students. It will also ensure more transparency between the countries involved. This will also be a tool of diplomatic relations between South Korea and her neighbor.
