Ministry of Education "Respect Yonsei University's intention to appeal... Authority to decide on retests lies with the university"

"Severe Student Harm When Regular Admissions Are Deferred"

After the court dismissed Yonsei University's injunction objection regarding the controversy over the leakage of essay questions in the 2025 academic year early admission, the Ministry of Education urged Yonsei University to "prepare alternatives to prevent admission confusion by December 26, the deadline for notifying additional admissions for unregistered candidates."

On the 20th, the Ministry of Education stated in a press release, "We must ensure the stability of the college entrance examination process and minimize the damage to examinees."

The Ministry of Education said, "We respect Yonsei University's intention to appeal, but we understand that the university is also reviewing the possibilities of alternatives for all situations that may arise afterward," and added, "We request the court to make a prompt decision to minimize confusion among examinees."

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At the same time, the Ministry emphasized that the final decision authority regarding the retest lies with the university. Regarding the proposal to transfer all essay test recruitment quotas to regular admissions, it explained, "Since this would eliminate one early admission opportunity for applicants who applied through Yonsei University's essay screening, considering the serious irreparable damage to examinees, we believe it is difficult to consider this a reasonable alternative."

Earlier that day, Yonsei University's objection to the court's decision to suspend the effectiveness of the natural sciences essay test for the 2025 academic year early admission was rejected. On the 15th, the court partially accepted the injunction request from examinees to suspend the essay test's effectiveness, halting subsequent procedures including the announcement of successful candidates for the natural sciences essay until the ruling on the class-action lawsuit filed by students demanding a retest was delivered. Yonsei University is reportedly planning to appeal.