"Yonsei University Essay Leak" Causes Admission Schedule Adjustment? Ministry of Education Says "Review Not Possible"

'No Decision Made to Carry Over Quota to Regular Admissions'
Professors' Council and Yonsei Professors' Union Demand "Essay Retest"

In response to demands from some quarters to postpone the entire college admission schedule due to the controversy over the leak of the 2025 academic year Yonsei University early admission essay questions, the Ministry of Education stated, "It is difficult to consider this at the current stage."

At a regular briefing held at the Government Complex Sejong on the 18th, Ministry of Education spokesperson Koo Yeon-hee said, "We hope that the main lawsuit proceedings will be resolved by the last day of additional early admission registration," expressing this position.

Regarding the report that the university was considering transferring all essay exam admission quotas to regular admissions if it lost the case, Spokesperson Koo responded, "When we checked with Yonsei University, I heard that they never made a decision to forgo a retest and transfer all quotas."

The Civil Agreement Division 21 of the Seoul Western District Court ruled on the 15th to "suspend the follow-up procedures related to the 2025 academic year Yonsei University early admission natural sciences essay exam until the verdict in the lawsuit requesting re-administration of the essay exam is delivered." Earlier, examinees filed a provisional injunction to suspend the validity of the exam, claiming that fairness was compromised due to the exam paper being distributed about an hour before the start of the test and then collected because of a supervisor's mistake at one test site where the natural sciences essay exam was held, leading to the leak of the exam content in advance.

The court left the decision on conducting a retest to the school but until the conclusion of the main lawsuit on the invalidation of the essay exam, 10,444 examinees who applied for the relevant admission track have not received acceptance notifications and remain in limbo.

According to the schedule set by the Korea Council for University Education, all four-year general universities including Yonsei University must complete early admission by the 12th of next month and announce the initial successful candidates on the 13th. However, the Civil Agreement Division 11 of the Seoul Western District Court, which is handling the main lawsuit, has not yet scheduled the first hearing.

On the same day, the Korean University Professors Association and the Korean University Professors Solidarity labor union urged Yonsei University to conduct a retest of the essay exam. In a press release, they stated, "Even now, a decision to re-administer the essay exam should be made to prevent admission chaos and to uphold the minimal conscience remaining in the university," adding, "If Yonsei University intensifies the admission confusion and resists, it will face strong opposition from examinees, parents, and the public."