“We will thoroughly examine the transition of the application processing system to a public model, including pre-checks, response manuals, guidelines for disclosing competition rates, and the application number system to establish fundamental measures to prevent recurrence.”
Lee Gi-jung, President of the Korean Higher Education Council (KHEC), issued a public apology and outlined robust follow-up measures during a National Assembly audit on October 12, addressing the recent application system failure for the 2027 college entrance exam.
During the audit, lawmakers from both parties criticized the structural flaws stemming from long-term reliance on private agencies and the resulting issues, including the exposure of application numbers that led to strategic maneuvering among applicants. Lee promised to activate a task force for regular admissions and implement a phased system overhaul.
A major point of contention during the audit was the 13-year neglect of the 'public college application system' since a court injunction in 2013, which has led to a monopoly by certain private agencies.
Democratic Party lawmaker Park Beom-kye urged the KHEC to transition the application system to a public or state-managed framework, stating, “Since the KHEC halted the establishment of a public application system in 2013, it has relied solely on private agencies, neglecting substantial discussions or follow-up measures.”
In response, Lee emphasized the importance of practical responses over a binary public versus private approach, stating, “We are currently conducting an in-depth review of the public transition plan for the application system in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and other relevant agencies.” He added, “We take the criticisms and suggestions from today’s audit seriously and will work to establish a trustworthy college entrance environment.”
Concerns were also raised about the issue of applicants deducing real-time competition rates from the last digits of their assigned application numbers, a practice referred to as ‘guessing support’ or ‘strategic maneuvering.’
Reform Party lawmaker Lee Joo-young questioned whether the KHEC would consider immediately implementing 'randomization of application numbers' in the upcoming regular admissions, citing that over 140 universities had exposed real-time applicant numbers due to flaws in the application number system.
Lee acknowledged the technical flaw that allowed applicants to infer the number of applicants or competition rates through their application numbers, stating, “We only became fully aware of this issue after the recent application system failure.” He noted that while some universities have already implemented randomization, fully adopting it for the upcoming regular admissions poses significant challenges, as it must be compatible with existing university IT systems.
Regarding future measures, Lee stated, “We are currently conducting a special investigation with the Ministry of Education and the Korea Scholarship Foundation, and we are re-evaluating emergency additional application guidelines and response manuals in preparation for regular admissions. We will report the findings and results to the National Assembly as soon as they are finalized and ensure a stable application process for regular admissions.”
Lee Gi-jung, President of the Korean Higher Education Council (KHEC), issued a public apology and outlined robust follow-up measures during a National Assembly audit on October 12, addressing the recent application system failure for the 2027 college entrance exam.
During the audit, lawmakers from both parties criticized the structural flaws stemming from long-term reliance on private agencies and the resulting issues, including the exposure of application numbers that led to strategic maneuvering among applicants. Lee promised to activate a task force for regular admissions and implement a phased system overhaul.
A major point of contention during the audit was the 13-year neglect of the 'public college application system' since a court injunction in 2013, which has led to a monopoly by certain private agencies.
Democratic Party lawmaker Park Beom-kye urged the KHEC to transition the application system to a public or state-managed framework, stating, “Since the KHEC halted the establishment of a public application system in 2013, it has relied solely on private agencies, neglecting substantial discussions or follow-up measures.”
In response, Lee emphasized the importance of practical responses over a binary public versus private approach, stating, “We are currently conducting an in-depth review of the public transition plan for the application system in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and other relevant agencies.” He added, “We take the criticisms and suggestions from today’s audit seriously and will work to establish a trustworthy college entrance environment.”
Concerns were also raised about the issue of applicants deducing real-time competition rates from the last digits of their assigned application numbers, a practice referred to as ‘guessing support’ or ‘strategic maneuvering.’
Reform Party lawmaker Lee Joo-young questioned whether the KHEC would consider immediately implementing 'randomization of application numbers' in the upcoming regular admissions, citing that over 140 universities had exposed real-time applicant numbers due to flaws in the application number system.
Lee acknowledged the technical flaw that allowed applicants to infer the number of applicants or competition rates through their application numbers, stating, “We only became fully aware of this issue after the recent application system failure.” He noted that while some universities have already implemented randomization, fully adopting it for the upcoming regular admissions poses significant challenges, as it must be compatible with existing university IT systems.
Regarding future measures, Lee stated, “We are currently conducting a special investigation with the Ministry of Education and the Korea Scholarship Foundation, and we are re-evaluating emergency additional application guidelines and response manuals in preparation for regular admissions. We will report the findings and results to the National Assembly as soon as they are finalized and ensure a stable application process for regular admissions.”
* This article has been translated by AI.
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