by

Professor Dr. Ki-Seok Kim
Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs and
Counselor of Institute of Asia-Pacific Education Development
Seoul National University
Republic of Korea

I. Introduction

For the last decade, higher education reform through innovation at the university level has been a major concern of the South Korean government. Yet, it was only fairly recent that the government made visible efforts at higher education reform. The low level of academic competence of Korean universities assessed by international standards drew intense attention from the government. For example, the Asia Week '99 reported that Seoul National University, the most competitive school in South Korea, ranked only third among the quality universities in the Asia region. The amounts of international journal publications by Korean universities registered in Scientific Citation Index in 1998 were equivalent only to 3.9% of those by American universities. In addition, Korean universities increasingly rely on universities abroad, creating a 7 billion dollar deficit in national revenue and expenditure. For all of these reasons, the South Korean government has come to direct its efforts to university level innovation.

Another primary motivation for university innovation is establishing an underpinning for the 'knowledge economy.' As in every country, universities in South Korea play the key role in creating and maintaining a highly educated population. Because a knowledge economy produced by high quality human resources is a crucial means of economic growth, South Korea has been trying to transform its universities into 'world-class' ones.

South Korea is not the only one in aspiring to build a 'world-class' higher education establishment. Having the same aspiration, other Asian countries such as Singapore, Taiwan, China, and Japan have invested substantially in linking their universities to high-tech industries. In particular, Singapore's ambition to produce a 'Boston of the East', which replicates the distinguished academic and industrial environments and networks of the Boston area, must be acknowledged.

While these Asian countries have geared toward establishing higher education, there are some skeptical perspectives on Asia's academic aspirations. Altbach (2000), a well-known scholar in the field of higher education from Boston College argues that Asia's higher education reform will not be easy and needs more realistic approaches. By contrasting the environmental advantages of Boston (e.g., the large scale, highly competitive academic systems, large private endowments, and academic freedom), Altbach points out some problems of the university innovation in Asia. That is, Asian countries tend to pay more attention to ensuring government funding and central planning rather than to creating an intellectual environment for sustained innovation. Altbach insists that universities cannot be bought 'off the shelf,' and it takes time and thorough thinking. In particular, Altbach suggests that Asian countries should keep a fine balance of institutional autonomy and a sense of public interest in the processes of university innovation.

Altbach deserves some credit for addressing some problems of higher education reform in Asia. However, a number of Asian countries have already made impressive initial progress. For instance, the 'Brain Korea 21' (BK 21) project of South Korea is designed to enhance the academic competence of universities in South Korea. After one and half years of participating in the BK 21 project, Seoul National University became the top 55th (2,202 articles) in the world in terms of the number of articles published in SCI journals in 2000. This can be considered a remarkable achievement, since Seoul National University ranked 94th (1,671 articles) in the world before the inception of BK 21.

'Brain Korea 21' (BK21) is a national-level higher education reform project initiated by the South Korean government to prepare Korean human resources for the 21st century. It is a project geared toward providing funds to higher education institutions for restructuring the overall college education system to meet the challenges of the new era. Since the BK 21 is the major project of current higher education reform in South Korea, my presentation will be focused on introducing the BK 21 project and discussing related issues. In so doing, the dynamic interrelationships of social, political, economic, and educational factors that led to the initiation of the BK 21 will be described. In addition, some resistance and controversies against the unfolding of the BK 21 will be discussed. In conclusion, achievements and future directions of higher education reform in South Korea will be addressed.

II Social and Economic Changes and Education in Korea

1.Political, Economic, and Social Changes Since 1996

Korea joined the OECD as its twenty-ninth member nation in December 1996. Korea had grown for the previous thirty-five years from one of the world's poorest countries to an industrialized one ranked eleventh in the world in terms of its economy size. Per-capita national income reached $10,000 in 1996 with a comparatively equitable pattern of income distribution, while average life expectancy was 72 years, approaching the average 76 years of other OECD countries.

Korean society has undergone tremendous political, economic, and social changes since Korea joined the OECD. A democratic election held in December 1997 resulted in a transfer of political power, giving rise to a "Government of the People". In 1998, fifty years after its independence, Korea witnessed a landmark shift in politics, particularly transition of political power to the opposition party for the first time.

Presenting "the integrated development of democracy and a market economy" as the fundamental goal of the regime, President Dae-Jung Kim launched extensive reforms virtually in all areas. These included the arenas of politics, the economy, social and foreign policies, and North-South Korea relations. Since then, President Kim's strong will of reform, especially in the four major areas of finance, corporations, industrial relations, and public service has resulted in several considerable accomplishments.

However, shortly before the actual transfer of power in November 1997, Korea suddenly had to face an economic catastrophe, and to avert it by obtaining financial aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). With the amount of its usable foreign currency reserves almost exhausted in November 1997, Korea received an emergency financial aid from the IMF. As a result, foreign currency reserves started to increase again in January 1998 with money flowing in.

Korea's labor market has experienced dramatic changes since the IMF help. Confronting the unprecedented economic hardship, the unemployment rate showed upward movement from 2.6 percent in November 1997 to 7.9 percent in December 1998. Then it decreased to 6.8 percent in 1999, and to 4.1 percent in 2000 (http://www.nso.go.kr). Along with the increase in the unemployment rate by the end of 1998, the length of time people spent unemployed also increased. This showed the unemployment pattern experienced by the developed countries several decades ago.

Most of those who became unemployed and who suffered from the economic crisis were low-wage workers with a low level of education. Major causes behind large-scale unemployment were the financial-economic crisis and the ensuing depression and restructuring. Sixty-three percent of the laid-off workers were either temporary or daily laborers, and the newly recruited staff members of small companies tended to be more susceptible to dismissal than those at big firms.

Korea had entered an era of low growth in which a high rate of unemployment was unavoidable. Thus, the Korean government came up with a comprehensive countermeasure for unemployment with a fund of about $6.7 billion for vocational retraining and pension.

The Korean government proposed a 'shift from a materials-oriented manufacturing economy to a knowledge-based economy' as one of its 'six major policy goals' in 1998. Then, it announced building a 'society with a creative knowledge-base' as its core task in national politics, putting the creation of a knowledge-based society on its political agenda. In 1999, the effort to build a knowledge-based society became more noticeable and was selected as one of five political objectives. The Ministry of Education formulated a five-year plan for educational development in March 1999 to prepare for a knowledge-based society and is currently gathering opinions from diverse social sectors.

In line with the Constitution and the Fundamental Law of Education, which designates the promotion of lifelong education as one of the nation's responsibilities, the Korean government revised the existing Continuing Education Law entirely and announced the Lifelong Education Law. Under the Fundamental Law of Education, the new Lifelong Education Law is comprised of the Elementary and Secondary Education Law, Higher Education Law, and Lifelong Education Law, and is ultimately aimed at realizing an open education and a lifelong learning society. The closed system of social education that privileged the suppliers of education is to be transformed into an open system of lifelong education centering on the consumers, that is, learners.

2. Impact of Changes on Education

One of the most devastating changes that occurred in the past three years was the loss of much of the nation's economic competitiveness under the system of financial support from the IMF. The educational reform drive initiated by the government of the previous President Young-Sam Kim did not realize such plans as securing for the education budget 5 percent of GNP by 1998. Due to a drastic cut in the education tax, which forms the base of educational finance, the education budget for 1998 remained at 4.3 percent of GNP, the same level as that for 1996.

Due to the retrenched education budget, the drive for education reform faced difficulties in improving educational environments. Since the unwanted pattern of 'high cost, low efficiency' prevalent in all social sectors had to be restructured under the IMF stewardship, the education sector was not an exception. The restructuring of the education sector began to unfold with the lowering of teachers' retirement age and a cutback in the number of supporting staff.

The high unemployment caused by the economic depression led people to recognizing the importance of lifelong vocational education for adults. In fact, adult education for new jobs became a major concern of universities and junior colleges. Due to the national economic crisis, Koreans came to recognize increasingly that all adults needed to cultivate job capability throughout their lifetime in order to cope with the changing job market in the knowledge-based economic society of the twenty-first century. This recognition has provided a momentum for transforming the existing educational system into one of lifelong learning in its truest sense.

The policy goal of 'the integrated development of democracy and a market economy' advocated by the new 'Government of the People' has provided a chance for the principles of the market economy to take root in the area of education. Although the previous government had actively pushed for deregulation and autonomy in education, the degree to which it was actually put into the practices was less than satisfactory. However, the concept of a market economy put forth by the new government placed education in the hands of the marketplace and expanded the scope of choice for recipients of educational services (i.e., learners). It also greatly extended autonomy in school management.

The colleges and universities of South Korea will enjoy increased autonomy in academic affairs, while enhancing their competitiveness in the areas of specialization. In concert with the new direction of the education reform, the government will delegate more responsibilities to universities, the cradle of international competitiveness in order to establish and implement strategies for specialization and diversification.

III The Outline of Higher Education Reform:
Focusing on the BK 21 Project

The "Brain Korea 21" (BK21) is a major higher education reform project that aims at cultivating creative and high quality human resources necessary for the forthcoming knowledge-based society. To accomplish this aim, the government has decided to invest 1.4 trillion won (about $1.2 billion) in universities over seven years. Three-quarters of the budget will be invested in supporting graduate schools in certain fields in the natural and applied sciences, humanities, and social sciences. While selected graduate schools and universities will be developed into leading world-class universities, the remaining institutions will become regional universities that will create the human resources required by local industries.

The graduate students in the selected graduate schools are the direct beneficiaries of the project. Research funds do not go directly to professors in the form of grants and a large part of the budget is used to provide a supportive educational environment for graduate students in the form of stipends, financial support for overseas study, and research infrastructure.

1. Objectives

The major objectives advocated by the BK 21 proposal can be described as follows:

Fostering world-class research universities which function as infrastructure in producing primary knowledge and technology, and promoting specialization of local universities;
Introducing professional graduate schools to cultivate professionals in various fields

Transforming the higher education system to facilitate competitive growth among universities based on the quality of their students and academic productivities.

2.Plan to nurture World-class Graduate School.

1) Nurturing world class graduate school with enough capability to produce creative knowledge in strategically important sectors for Korea - 1.2 billion dollars in 7 years (1999 to 2005)
2) Reforming universities in student admission system and professor performance review system

A. Target Subject Areas to be supported

There are two subject areas to be supported by BK 21: 1) Natural and Applied Sciences and Technology and 2) Humanities and Social Sciences. The Natural and Applied Science and Technology includes the fields of Information Technology, Biotechnology, Mechanics and Materials, Physics, Chemistry, Material Engineering, and so on. The Humanities and Social Sciences area involves Language, History, Philosophy, Law, Administration, Politics, Economics, Education, Psychology and others. The annual financial support for each team project ranges from 800,000 dollars to 6 million dollars for the area of Natural and Applied Sciences and Technology, and from 150,000 to 750,000 dollars for the area of Humanities and Social Sciences.

B. Support for research infrastructure

Facilities? Facilities related to education and research in the graduate schools, such as Electronic Libraries, laboratories, guesthouses, and dormitories for married students will be augmented.

Research? Universities will be supported financially in establishing relations with world leading universities for International Exchange program or Collaborative Research program. The financial support includes scholarships, stipends for post-doctorate and faculties. A performance- based promotion system is being introduced to ensure competition among professors.

3. Plan to Nurture Regional Universities

Nurturing Regional Universities in order to meet the needs of local industry About 38 million dollars in 7 years (1999 to 2005)
Changing entrance models to higher education institutions: Encouraging highly-qualified regional high-school graduates to go to regional leading undergraduate schools and World-class Graduate Schools

A. Specialization of Regional Universities

Human Resource Training? In order to meet the needs of local industry, practical major education will be strengthened and basic vocational education on foreign language and management of information will be reinforced.

B. Support Programs

Incentives? When highly qualified high-school graduates enter leading regional universities, they will be provided with opportunities to participate in overseas language programs. In order to facilitate the regional university graduates' advanced further study, world-class graduate schools have 50% of quarter for regional university graduates.

Educational Environment? The participating regional universities have to hire more professors to improve student/faculty ratio. By forming coalitions with local government and companies, the universities will be able to come up with a basis for further development. Financial support for laboratory and language labs will be provided to professors.

4.Plan for Specialized Areas

1) Fostering highly professional human resources in the field of newly emerging industry which has high added values (i.e., Film, Animation, Design, Tele Communication, and Foreign Language Translation) - About 4 million dollars in 5 years (1999 to 2003)
2) Focusing on establishing specialized graduate schools

5. Plan for Core Areas

1) Nurturing next generation scholars regarding academic organizations at the department level of graduate schools encompassing all subject areas and fields - About 20,000 to 150,000 dollars in 3 years (1999 to 2001)

6 Expected Outcomes

The expected outcomes of the BK 21 project can be summarized as follows:

• The project will contribute to creating a sound higher education environment in Korea, ultimately exerting influence on reforming college entrance systems.
• Excellent human resources, nearly 1,300 persons with doctorate degrees in science and engineering, will be produced every year as a result of the project.
• The project will dramatically enhance Korea's R&D capabilities. International cooperation will be strengthened with high quality overseas educational institutions.
• The project will facilitate cooperation among members of the industry, academia and the government.
• Collaboration and cooperation among colleges and universities will be
  encouraged.

7. Expanding International Cooperation for implementing the BK21

The Korean universities and graduate schools selected for the BK21 project are now actively seeking ways to improve themselves by benchmarking with a dozen productive international educational institutions recognized in their specialized areas. Also, efforts will be made to forge international collaboration with institutions overseas through co-operation in a number of programs.

Beside the collaborative projects, university professors and students who were selected under the project will be given opportunities to pursue their professional development at overseas universities of their choice on a long-term (six months or more up to one year) or a short-term (six months or less) basis.

The perceived value of the domestic academic degree has markedly decreased even before the commencement of the BK21 project. However, some graduate students as well as faculty seem to prefer "domestic" academic degrees to overseas ones. They still believe in the value of either pre & post doctoral programs at the academically renowned overseas graduate schools though. They seem to want to combine a basic training at home and an advanced training abroad. There still remain a good number of major fields in which students seek opportunities for overseas graduate study, especially in natural sciences and engineering fields.

8. Funding Sources

BK 21, as a government initiated project, with a total projected budget of $1.2 billion for a period of 1999-2005, is made up of three major parts, as follows:

Part I is to upgrade graduate education to attain excellence in teaching and to promote local universities. It focuses on three specific areas: science & technology, humanities & social science, and local universities. A total of $170 million will be invested annually for this purpose.

Part II is to enhance the research capability of graduate schools, with a total budget of $41 million to be invested.

Part III is to build infrastructure for academic research and is to provide financial support to all academic areas, with a particular emphasis on basic disciplines. A total fund of $42 million is reserved for this purpose. Funding for each task area is to be provided through a rigorous evaluation process of the applications submitted by universities and colleges.

In order to match government's funds, every unit of BK21 projects at the selected university is expected to raise funds from research foundations, industries, and other private sectors.

IV Resistance and Controversies

As in any kind of reform, there is some ambivalence toward BK 21 higher education reform in South Korea. Resistance to and controversies around BK 21 need to be carefully examined for successful and effective reform.

BK21 is an unprecedented policy in terms of its scale and planning. Past policies in higher education finance have focused on distributing of limited resources fairly among all colleges and departments. BK21 has changed the focus to efficiency of investment rather than equality of opportunity in the distribution of research funds. In addition, shifting the focus of higher education from undergraduate to graduate education is expected to mitigate the overheated competition for entering top-tier universities.

On the other hand, there are concerns about the possible negative impacts of BK 21 project. Perhaps, the strongest concern may be the issue of 'selection and concentration' vs. a balanced development among universities as well as among subject areas. If the traditional top universities are selected and supported by BK21, the principle of "selection and concentration" will prevent most professors in non-selected colleges and universities from getting their research funded. Rather, BK21 may reinforce the traditional university pecking order, which has long been perceived as an obstacle in the development of Korean higher education. Furthermore, the governmental investment concentrated on the given subject areas and specialized areas may be detrimental to the balanced development of various academic fields.

Closely related to the above concern, another concern is seriously uneven distributions of graduate research assistants. Some point out that only the universities participating in the BK 21 project will have enough funds to adequately support students and thus attract qualified students to their program. Non-selected major universities and regional universities will suffer a relative lack of research facilities and financial support for graduate students. Consequently, such universities are likely to have insufficient number of graduate students, which in turn, may weaken research activities to a considerable extent.

Other concerns involve discriminatory financial support for national vs. private universities, insufficient support for basic academic fields, and aggravated college entrance competition due to the reduced undergraduate student enrollment.

The main sticking point of BK 21 may lie in the potential for losing institutional autonomy. Criticizing the over-dependence on government funding, E.J. Lee (2000), a Korean doctoral candidate at Boston College doubts the success of BK 21 project. Every selected university must undertake educational reform under the direction of the Ministry of Education, such as reducing the number of undergraduate students, hiring professors for teaching graduate courses, improving university curriculum, and so on. According to E.J. Lee, this government-controlled and development-oriented educational reform will cost the intellectual freedom and autonomy of universities in the long run.

V. Accomplishments and Future Directions

1.In spite of criticisms mentioned above, the BK21 project has been fruitful in at least the following three ways: 1) changes in university atmospheres and improvements in research activities of graduate schools, 2) attainments of the project goals, and 3) progresses in the university system reform. These accomplishments are based on the evaluation conducted in August 2000 regarding the first year of the BK 21 project.

1.Improvements in Research Activities of Graduate Schools and Changes in University Atmospheres

• · The number of articles by Korean scholars published in SCI journals has increased at a rate well above average. There was a worldwide increase of just 1.9% for articles by scholars all over the world. But after the inception of the project, the number of articles by Korean scholars increased by 15.6%.
• Universities compete with one another in recruiting highly qualified professors and adopt incentive systems for professors who have quality journal publications.

2. Attainments of the Project Goals

• Increases in the number of articles published in international journals

• Increases in achieving international and domestic patents (Applied Sciences and Technology, and Specialized Areas)

• Increased support for graduate students

• Employing next generation scholars

• Implementing programs for international cooperation (Overseas studies)

*(frequency/number of people)
Total of 107 students for Long-term overseas studies and 4,406 students for short-term overseas studies.

3. Progresses in University System Reform.

• Each university has been developing a new college entrance system for the year of 2002.
• A plan for reducing the number of undergraduate students has been made (415 students in 2000 & 658 students in 2001 have been reduced).
• Graduate schools admit graduates from undergraduate programs of other schools (45% in the subject area of Sciences and Technology & 57% in that of Humanities and Social Sciences).
• Universities have adopted the performance-based promotion system in order to ensure academic competitions among professors.
• As summarized above, the BK 21 project has been making noticeable progresses in the subject areas, specialized areas, and regional universities. If the BK 21 project is continuously implemented in accordance with its objectives and plans, the academic innovation at the university level will be facilitated effectively.
• Looking at a representative university participating in the BK 21 project can provide a more specific idea of where the higher education reform through BK 21 is ahead. Seoul National University (SNU), one of the leading universities in South Korea, envisions its future as a world-class comprehensive research-oriented university. It pursues frontier knowledge, by higher standards of education, by promoting excellence in research, and by serving the society (See Figure 1).

Figure 1. SNU's Vision for 21st Century

In order to transform SNU into a world-class university, SNU tries to benchmark the academic systems, strategies, and infrastructures of world-leading universities. SNU strives for being within the top 40 universities in the world by 2010. SUN reform focuses on the entrance exam policy, the undergraduate programs, the university governance, teaching and research competence, recruitment of highly qualified professors, the long-term development planning of SNU. Some indicators of the development for the goals of 2005 are listed below.

In the processes of building a world-class university, SNU emphasizes international cooperation for establishing or upgrading research and education capabilities of institutions. Thus, it is worth mentioning the Institute of Asia Pacific Education Development (iAPED) at SNU. As a participant of the BK project in the area of Humanities and Social Sciences, the iAPED consists of research teams from the Department of Education and the Department of National Ethics Education. As the name of the institute implies, the iAPED deals with international education affairs, especially in the Asia Pacific region. The mission of the iAPED is to foster Asian education specialists and this mission is carried out by academic exchanges and cooperation with other Asian educational societies.

Building a world-class university has been a long-held desire of South Korea. The BK 21 project is a national endeavor of innovating universities to cultivate high-powered and creative Korean human resources for a knowledge-based society in the 21st century. From the beginning, the project has drawn considerable attention from higher education institutions as well as from various social sectors. It has been creating the intellectual atmospheres of universities and producing noticeable academic outcomes. Taking the BK project as an impetus for the university innovation, higher education reform in South Korea will be successfully continued.

References

Atlbach, P. (2000). Asia's academic aspirations: Some problems, International Higher Education.

Lee, E.J. (2000). Brain Korea 21: A development-oriented national policy in Korean Higher education, International Higher Education.

Kim, K.S.(2000). A national report form Republic of Korea. A paper presented at

Hawaii East-West Center Workshop. Hawaii, The United States.

The Ministry of Education (2001). Brain Korea 21 project: An outcome report, Seoul, Korea.

http://www.nso.go.kr

CURRICULUM VITAE

Name: Dr. Ki-Seok Kim

Education Background : Ph. D. in Education Policy Studies University of Wisconsin-Madison U.S.A.

Present Position: Vice Chancellor for students Affairs
Seoul National University (SNU)

Work Experience:

1999-2000 Dean, Korean Graduate School of Archival Sciences
1999-2000 Chair, Lifelong Education Major,Dept. of Education.
1998-present Director, University of Archives, SNU.
1997-1998 Director, Division of Research,
Research Institute of Contemporary
History Academy of Korean Studies.
1996-1997 Chair, Educational Sciences Major &
Department of Education