Kangnam University Graduate School of Taxation to Launch in March Next Year... Recruiting First Cohort of Students

Kangnam University’s Graduate School of Taxation will officially launch next year, becoming the second graduate school of taxation in South Korea after the University of Seoul.

The Department of Taxation at Kangnam University announced on the 24th that it has received approval from the Ministry of Education to establish the Graduate School of Taxation and plans to begin recruiting the first cohort of master’s and doctoral students starting December 9. The enrollment quota for both the master’s and doctoral programs in taxation is set at 10 students each.

The official inauguration of the Kangnam University Graduate School of Taxation will take place in early March next year, marked by an academic seminar that will also serve as the opening ceremony and entrance ceremony for the first cohort of students. Renowned tax law scholars such as Professors Kim Wanseok and Lee Jeonoh, as well as Professor Lee Gwangjae, a former director of the National Tax Service’s offshore tax evasion division, will participate as tax experts. In addition, full-time faculty members specializing in taxation at Kangnam University, including Professor Seong Yongwoon from the Graduate School and Professor Yoo Horim, who serves as vice president of both the Korean Association for Tax Studies and the Korean Association of Tax Law, are also listed as founding members.

Kangnam University established its master’s program in taxation in 2001 and launched its doctoral program in 2003. To date, it has produced approximately 140 graduates with master’s and doctoral degrees in taxation. The university has contributed to the training of tax professionals over the past 20 years by operating contract-based doctoral programs in collaboration with expert organizations such as the Korea Tax Association and the Korean Institute of Certified Public Accountants. More recently, it has continued its active research through the Tax Crime Research Institute, which was established jointly with internal and external groups of tax experts.

Professor Yoo Horim, head of the Department of Taxation at Kangnam University’s Graduate School, stated, “The establishment of the Graduate School of Taxation aims to nurture tax professionals specializing in areas such as criminal tax law, tax litigation, tax appeals, and tax strategy.” He added, “We plan to secure not only full-time faculty but also practitioners from accounting and law firms, as well as prominent scholars and experts in various fields related to tax law, as faculty resources for the Graduate School of Taxation.”

The Kangnam University Graduate School of Taxation, together with the Tax Crime Research Institute, aims to foster tax professionals equipped with both theoretical and practical expertise by holding two to three seminars each semester in areas such as criminal tax law.

Kangnam University expressed its expectation that “the Graduate School of Taxation will grow into a specialized educational institution that meets the demand for skilled tax professionals by nurturing differentiated and highly specialized tax talent, promoting healthy collaboration among related professions, and ultimately contributing to the realization of tax justice and the protection of taxpayer rights.”