"Seoul National University Ranks 54th" in Global University Rankings... University of Tokyo is 35th

Times Higher Education Top 200 University Rankings Announced... University of Oxford in the UK Ranks 1st

The Asahi Shimbun of Japan reported on the 2nd (local time) that "two Japanese universities ranked within the top 200 universities worldwide." / Photo by Internet homepage capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Ju-hyung] Seoul National University ranked 54th in the world’s top 200 universities. According to the Asahi Shimbun report on the 2nd citing the Times Higher Education (THE) world university rankings, Seoul National University placed 54th, while the University of Tokyo ranked 35th. However, only two Japanese universities made it into the top 200 in this survey, which is somewhat behind China with 10 universities and South Korea with 6 universities included.

Asahi Shimbun reported the news under the headline "University of Tokyo ranks 35th in world university rankings, only two Japanese universities in top 200." The report analyzed the annual ranking of the world’s top 200 universities published by the UK education specialist magazine.

According to Asahi, in Japan, the University of Tokyo (35th) and Kyoto University (61st) made it into the top 200 rankings. Tohoku University, ranked third in Japan, was placed between 201st and 250th, while Osaka University and Tokyo Institute of Technology were ranked between 301st and 350th. Regarding this, Asahi pointed out, "The University of Tokyo, Japan’s top university, improved its ranking by one place compared to the previous year," and "Only two Japanese universities made it into the top 200."

Asahi also explained, "South Korea included six universities in the top 200, led by Seoul National University at 54th." Seoul National University, which recorded the highest ranking in South Korea, showed a significant gap compared to Japan’s top university, the University of Tokyo. However, with six Korean universities in the top 200, South Korea surpassed Japan in the number of top-ranked universities.

The highest-ranked university among Asian countries was China’s Peking University and Tsinghua University, both tied at 16th place. It was confirmed that 10 Chinese universities made it into the top 200. Additionally, several Asian universities such as the National University of Singapore (21st) and the University of Hong Kong (30th) also recorded high rankings.

Regarding this, Asahi noted, "Japanese universities have long been criticized for issues in internationalization evaluation," but also reported that THE stated, "The Japanese government’s policy focused on internationalization is showing progress."

Meanwhile, THE scores universities mainly in three areas: research, teaching, and impact (average citations per submitted paper). Additionally, the level of internationalization (ratio of foreign students and staff) is also included in the scoring.

In this university ranking, the world’s 1st and 2nd places were taken by the University of Oxford in the UK and the California Institute of Technology in the US, respectively, highlighting the dominance of Anglo-American universities.