“REPUBLIC OF Seoul: a phrase criticizing the excessive concentration of Korea’s political, economic, social, and cultural development in Seoul.” Now an official term on the National Institute of Korean Language database, “Republic of Seoul” reflects the reality where the most important resources and infrastructure are crammed into Seoul. Although the term was meant as a joke, the situation where growth revolves around the capital city is no laughing matter.

Seoul universities: road to success

   Research by Statistics Korea shows that over the last 20 years, the Seoul Metropolitan Area, a blanket term for Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi-do, saw a steady inflow of people in their 20s. The most common reason they come to Seoul is education—and by extension, employment. According to the Korea Educational Statistics Service, about 40% of Korea’s universities are located in the Seoul Metropolitan Area. The number, however, isn’t as significant as the fact that “good universities,” such as Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and Korea University, are all in Seoul. In an interview with The Yonsei Annals, Professor Seongsoo Choi (Prof., Dept. of Sociology) pointed to the decline of public universities in regional provinces as a contributing factor to this phenomenon. “Up until the 80s or 90s, national universities in other regions did as well as private universities in Seoul,” he explained. “Now the hierarchy is sharply divided between the Seoul region and non-Seoul regions.”

   While there can be many contributing factors to this divide, Park Ji-hyeon’s masters’ thesis paper Research about the Reasons and Results of Hierarchy of Universities* suggests that government policies may have exacerbated it. For instance, the “July 30 Reform” in 1980 drastically expanded universities’ admission quota, fueling “academic inflation” that made the name value of the universities more significant. The reform also unified admission procedures with a national exam, enabling a hierarchy of schools based on a standardized score. At the same time, the government limited the number of universities and its student population in the Seoul Metropolitan Area even as the demand for university degrees in the area increased. In a region with a set number of schools and a steadily climbing population, competition for admissions naturally rose. Although top regional universities had higher entrance exam results than some universities in Seoul until the early 80s, Seoul universities soon started overtaking them as only students with the highest scores were accepted. Park pointed to this policy as the root of the current school hierarchy, as rankings of universities in Seoul would have automatically increased regardless of the school’s actual quality. The “May 31 Reform” in 1995, which set the foundation of education policies to this day, accelerated this process by freeing university admissions from government supervision. The Hankyoreh criticized this policy of turning the education system like a market economy of “consumer” (the students) and “supplier” (schools), reinforcing one-dimensional competition and the unbalanced structure of schools.

   Although many administrations presented policies to lessen the hierarchic competition, such as implementing new admission systems and changing the su-neung** grading system, they failed to solve the fundamental issue***. The already-established hierarchy of schools, combined with the growing concentration of resources, wealth, and people in the Seoul region, led to a real difference in ranking, reputation, and connections.

Better school, better life

   The social perception that getting into good universities in Seoul is crucial for success became widespread. Getting high enough grades to “make it” to Seoul became normalized in non-Seoul regions and many young adults used universities as a reason to relocate to Seoul. “For talented and ambitious students in other regions,” Choi explained, “making it to Seoul became a must, from which many disparities stem.” Despite the expense, heightened competition, and uncertainty, many young adults feel like they have to move to Seoul for their future. “Unless I’m going to settle down back home forever, I need the name value and connections of my school to make it in the society,” a Korea University student from Changwon, who wishes to remain anonymous, explained. “I thought that universities in Seoul would give me the best chance at employment because of quality infrastructure and accessibility.” Another anonymous Ewha Womans University student from Gimhae echoed this sentiment; “I want to pursue a career in media or contents production, and coming to Seoul was the only way to enter the industry. All the big companies and extracurricular activities for university students [to build my resume] were in Seoul as well, so I had to come here.”

   Their beliefs are not unfounded. Whether it’s due to the high concentration of infrastructure or high accessibility of information and connections, graduates in Seoul seem to have an easier time getting job opportunities. In 2009, 61.2% of recruits of major companies were graduates from universities in the Seoul Metropolitan Area****, while 83.3% of law school recruits in 2019 were from universities in Seoul*****. Even for those who aren’t vying for “elite” jobs, there are still more opportunities in Seoul than in other regions; 78.9% of “New Recruits” listings in 2019 on Job Korea, an online employment platform, were in or near Seoul******. For young future workers, getting their foot in Seoul through universities is an investment in itself.

   However, the problem with Seoul and its schools’ massive growth is that it’s both the cause and result of other regions’ decline. With the diminishing number of students in general and the consistent outflow of young adults to Seoul, some estimate that 40% of regional universities will close in 5 years*******. The decrease of universities in regional provinces will induce more people to go to well-established universities in Seoul, which will lead to a decrease in student population in the provinces and shut down more schools, creating a cycle that will lead to even more centralization of the Seoul Metropolitan Area.

Success in “Republic of Korea”

   One of the main goals of the current administration is “well-balanced development across every region.” Although Professor Choi states we have to accept centralization in the Seoul Metropolitan Area to an extent, he notes the possibility of balanced development across Korea. “The goal of public policies is to induce ‘city clusters’ around big cities other than Seoul, such as in southeastern provinces around Busan and the middle region around Daejeon or Sejong.” He suggests that major public universities in regional provinces still have strong infrastructure and competitiveness in the market, and that they could work as a foundation for regional city clusters. To achieve this, however, long-term investment and external support are needed.

   There are policies in place that can help; public institutions implemented “blind hiring” procedures, and the local hiring quota system that requires public facilities to employ a certain percentage of regional university graduates are being expanded********. Universities themselves will have to come up with ways to increase their appeal and competitiveness, and the government should also redistribute some of the nation’s resources to local communities. Although these efforts may not have an instant effect, they can be the first steps in returning to the “Republic of Korea.”

*Korea University

**Su-neung: College Scholastic Ability Test, the standardized exam used for Korean university admissions

***The Hankyoreh

****JoongAng Ilbo

*****The Law Journal

******OhMyNews

*******The Kyunghyang Shinmun

********The Hankyoreh