Education Minister Choi Kyo-jin announces the selection of Pusan National University, Chonnam National University and Chungnam National University for a government funding program on Sept. 1.NEWS1
Pusan National University, Chonnam National University and Chungnam National University were picked this week for the Lee Jae Myung administration's drive to build regional rivals to Seoul National University, six days before early university applications open. Admissions analysts say the timing will move where students apply.
The three, in Busan, South Jeolla and South Chungchoeng, were named Tuesday as package support universities under the initiative known as "10 Seoul National Universities," a campaign pledge to lift regional flagship national universities toward the standard of the country's top school. Each will receive about 70 billion won ($51 million) in additional funding.
That figure includes support for shared-university partnerships between flagship and other regional institutions under the government's plan to build five regional economic hubs and three special provinces outside the capital region.
General funding for undergraduate teaching reform, worth 20 billion won to 30 billion won, brings the three universities to roughly 100 billion won more than they received last year.
The Education Ministry had planned to announce the selection in late September, after early applications closed. In late August it moved the date to early September without warning.
"The ministry changed the announcement date with no advance notice," an spokesperson at one of the national universities said. Releasing the results before applications open gives students time to factor them into where they apply.
All three plan to spend part of the money on industry tie-ups. Pusan National University will run new contract departments with LG Electronics and Hanwha, programs in which a company funds a course of study and hires the graduates. Chonnam National University is pursuing joint research institutes with Samsung Electronics and Korea Electric Power Corporation.
Pusan National University's campus in BusanPUSAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
A separate policy taking effect for the first time this year adds to the pull of regional national universities. The regional doctor program admits students who grew up in a region outside the greater Seoul area through a dedicated track, covers their tuition through central and local government funding and requires them to practice in that region for a set period after they are licensed. The Education Ministry and the Ministry of Health and Welfare published a guide to the program Thursday. It will fill 490 places at 32 medical schools and graduate medical schools outside Seoul, 359 of them tied to care districts made up of clusters of cities, counties and wards, and 131 to wider metropolitan and provincial areas.
From next year the government will also waive tuition at 30 regional national universities.
Trial applications already show the effect. Jinhaksa, an admissions data firm, compared roughly 810,000 mock applications submitted on its site in the run-up to the early admissions period, in which students pick preferred universities without a cap on choices. Interest in Pusan, Chonnam and Chungnam rose from last year, while Kyungpook and Chungbuk national universities, which were passed over by the initiative, fell.
"Kangwon National University is pushing a one-province, one-university model through mergers with several schools in Gangwon, and its preference rose even though it missed the top three, because it is close to the greater Seoul area," said Woo Yeon-cheol, who heads Jinhaksa's admissions strategy research institute.
A view of Chonnam National University's campus in GwangjuJOONGANG ILBO
Competition for the nine regional flagship national universities was already climbing before any of this. Their combined regular admissions ratio last cycle hit a five-year high, and their early admissions ratio a four-year high. Jongno Academy, a private education institute, put the regular admissions ratio for the 2026 academic year at an average of 5.68 applicants per place.
Entry cutoffs tightened with it. Students who ultimately enrolled through the general early admissions track for the 2026 academic year averaged grade 3.69 in humanities and 3.58 in sciences on a nine-band school-record scale where 1 is the top, the most demanding levels in five years.
"With the job market as tight as it is, students and parents may pick one of the nine flagship national universities, where the financial burden is lighter, rather than insisting on a school in the greater Seoul area and swallowing the cost," said Lim Seong-ho, CEO of Jongno Academy.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
