President Pyeon Jangwan: "Overlooked Admissions Criteria for School Violence"
Strict Review of Student's Admission to Be Conducted Next Month
The Korea National University of Arts (K-ARTS) has issued an official apology regarding the admission of an applicant with a record of school violence, calling it "a clear mistake on the part of the university."
On November 28, Pyeon Jangwan, President of the Korea National University of Arts, stated at a plenary session of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, in response to questions from both ruling and opposition lawmakers, "We should have been vigilant and reflected the issue of school violence in our admissions process, but we failed to do so."
He continued, "While most universities this year established and applied screening criteria for school violence in their admissions process, our university, as a national institution, overlooked this. Failing to adhere to basic and common social norms and values is a clear mistake," he said, bowing his head in apology.
President Pyeon announced that on December 4, the Admissions Policy Committee would rigorously review whether to grant admission to the student in question and would establish stricter regulations.
Previously, it was revealed that K-ARTS had admitted an applicant with a record of school violence during this year's admissions process, sparking controversy. The applicant had been referred to prosecutors for verbally and physically assaulting a female student while in high school, later reaching a settlement. As a result, the applicant received a Level 4 disciplinary action for school violence, which corresponds to "community service" and is officially recorded in the student's school records.
In 2023, the Ministry of Education mandated that, starting with the 2026 academic year, all universities must consider records of school violence in their admissions process as part of measures to eradicate school violence. However, K-ARTS, as a national university under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, reportedly did not apply the Ministry of Education's guidelines.
Some universities voluntarily began reflecting records of school violence in their admissions evaluations starting with the 2025 academic year. According to data received by Assemblyman Kim Youngho of the Democratic Party of Korea from the Ministry of Education, out of 193 four-year universities in Korea, 134 submitted data, and among them, 61 universities-about half-reflected records of school violence in their admissions evaluations.
As a result, out of a total of 397 applicants with a history of school violence, 298-75%-were rejected. Among major universities in Seoul, Seoul National University rejected two applicants in the regular admissions process, while Yonsei University and Sungkyunkwan University rejected three and six applicants, respectively, in the early admissions process due to school violence records. In addition, Hanyang University (12 applicants), University of Seoul (10 applicants), Kyung Hee University (6 applicants), Konkuk University (6 applicants), and Dongguk University (9 applicants) also had applicants who were rejected for this reason.
While last year the reflection of school violence records in admissions was left to the discretion of each university, starting with the 2026 academic year, the mandatory deduction system for school violence will apply to all universities and all admissions processes, so the number of applicants rejected for this reason is expected to increase.
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