Kwon Soon-ki, President of Gyeongsang National University, Requests Securing Higher Education Funding at National Assembly Audit

Necessity of 'National Hub National University Development Plan' Emphasized

President Kwon Soon-gi of Gyeongsang National University proposed at the 2023 National Assembly Education Committee's national audit held on the morning of the 18th at the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education International Conference Room that a ‘sustainable higher education finance’ system should be secured for the advancement of higher education in the Republic of Korea, and a ‘plan to foster national flagship national universities’ should be established for regional coexistence and development.

Additionally, President Kwon appealed for support to ensure that the ‘university headquarters remodeling and expansion project design cost (510 million KRW)’ of Gyeongsang National University is reflected in next year’s budget.

At the national audit, President Kwon stated, “I made several proposals last year for the advancement of higher education in the Republic of Korea, but since these are very important issues, I would like to reiterate them,” emphasizing two points: securing sustainable higher education finance and fostering national flagship national universities.

President Kwon said, “With the interest and help of the committee members last year, the ‘Special Account for Higher and Lifelong Education Support’ was established, leading to considerable improvements, but it is still regrettable that it does not reach the OECD average,” adding, “Especially, this is temporary, and after two years, the situation will revert to that of 2022.”

Gyeongsang National University President Kwon Soon-gi is delivering a greeting at the government audit.

He emphasized, “By expanding finances to at least the OECD average level, we ask that the standards and systems related to university personnel, finances, facilities, and equipment, which have remained at the 1980s level, be improved to align with our national competitiveness and higher education goals.”

He continued, “Our country is facing crises such as population decline and regional extinction, and to overcome this, we ask for support so that national flagship national universities become hubs for regional coexistence, cooperation, and development,” requesting, “National flagship national universities should foster basic, protective, and liberal arts disciplines to support basic and liberal arts lectures at regional universities, and regional small but strong universities should focus on regional revitalization and nurturing human resources for regional industries by establishing such a system.”

He further requested, “We ask for strong implementation of regional research allocation systems such as the expansion of Regional Leading Research Centers (RLRC) and the establishment of Regional Institute of Basic Science (RIBS) so that national flagship national universities can become regional hubs for talent development and technology development in national strategic industries.”

In particular, President Kwon requested, “Please actively support the ‘Making Gyeongsang National University into 10 Seoul National University-level institutions’ strategy, which aims to contribute to national balanced development by advancing Gyeongsang National University’s specialized aerospace field, linked to Gyeongnam’s strategic aerospace industry, to the level of Seoul National University.”