Yoon Young-deok Welcomes Jeonbuk National University Decision to Expand Local Talent Selection

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] From the 2024 academic year admissions, Jeonbuk National University’s regional talent selection will be expanded to cover the entire Honam region, including Gwangju and Jeonnam areas.

According to National Assembly Education Committee member Yoon Young-deok (Gwangju Dongnam-gap, Democratic Party), it has been confirmed that the scope and number of selections for Jeonbuk National University’s early admission student record-based regional talent selection will be expanded.

Jeonbuk National University divides the regional talent selection into Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 selects high school graduates (or expected graduates) who have completed their entire curriculum at high schools located in the Honam region.

On the other hand, Type 2 selects graduates (or expected graduates) who have completed their entire curriculum at high schools located in Jeollabuk-do and whose father, mother, and the student all reside in the Jeollabuk-do area.

By recruitment unit, the College of Medicine selects 14 students for Type 1 and 46 for Type 2; the College of Dentistry selects 5 for Type 1 and 18 for Type 2. The College of Veterinary Medicine selects 5 for Type 1 and 15 for Type 2, and the Department of Nursing selects 9 for Type 1 and 30 for Type 2.

For the other 65 recruitment units besides these departments, all 420 students are recruited under Type 1 only. Accordingly, Jeonbuk National University recruits 453 students for Type 1 and 109 students for Type 2, totaling 562 students across 69 recruitment units. This is an increase of 38 students compared to the 2023 academic year selection numbers.

According to data analyzed by Representative Yoon Young-deok during last year’s national audit, Chonnam National University expanded its College of Medicine regional talent selection to 62.99% and recruited from all areas of the Honam region. In contrast, Jeonbuk National University’s College of Medicine regional talent selection ratio was 52.82%, limiting the target area to Jeollabuk-do only.

During the last national audit, Representative Yoon pointed out that “Jeonbuk National University is the only university that limited regional talent selection to just one region.”

In response, Jeonbuk National University President Kim Dong-won stated, “Since my inauguration as president, I have agreed with expanding the regional scope of the regional talent selection,” indicating the intention to expand the regional scope of the regional talent selection to the Honam region.

Representative Yoon expressed his primary welcome for Jeonbuk National University’s decision to expand regional talent selection. “Although it is regrettable that the recruitment types are divided into Honam and Jeonbuk regions rather than a full-scale regional talent selection, I appreciate Jeonbuk National University’s progressive move toward balanced regional selection, and I hope that next year’s admissions process will be decided in line with the purpose of balanced regional selection,” he said.

He added, “Going forward, it is necessary to consider university education and regional talent development within the larger framework of Honam, including Gwangju, Jeonnam, and Jeonbuk,” emphasizing, “I hope that this expansion of the regional scope of the regional talent selection will serve as a foundation for Gwangju, Jeonnam, and Jeonbuk to jointly nurture outstanding talents from Honam.”