Minister Choi Kyo-jin said a concrete implementation plan for Lee Jae-myung administration's flagship education pledge, the so-called "creating 10 Seoul National Universities," will be released within the year.
At a comprehensive audit held by the National Assembly Education Committee on the 30th, the Minister said a concrete plan for the "local university development direction for national balanced growth," released last month, will be presented within this year.
The Minister said, "We will also prepare support measures to secure science and engineering faculty, and we plan to support regional universities, including excellent junior colleges with strong capabilities, so they can grow based on their characteristics and strengths." The Minister also said, "To ensure fiscal soundness in increased higher education funding, we will implement measures to strengthen accountability and transparency in private universities, such as requiring the disclosure on the University Finance Alimi starting in 2026 of reserve-by-reserve accumulation and usage details."
The Minister said the government plans to introduce psychological autopsies—previously conducted for adults who died by suicide—for students as well. The Minister said, "To accurately grasp the reality of student suicides, the Education Ministry, in cooperation with the Welfare Ministry, plans to introduce psychological autopsies for students to estimate causes through bereaved family statements and record analysis," adding, "We will further expand student counseling support staff and emergency support teams so that crisis students can quickly receive needed emotional support, and we also seek to establish a legal basis so the state and local governments can take responsibility for caring for students' mental health."
Regarding the so-called "age-4 exam" and "age-7 exam" private education issues for infants and toddlers, the ministry "has established a dedicated task force and is actively responding to the overheating of private education for young children," it explained.
On protecting teachers' authority, the Minister said, "We will actively cooperate with relevant ministries to revise the Child Abuse Punishment Act so that when a superintendent of education presents a no-charge opinion, the case is not forwarded to prosecutors."