Uway outage prompts review of entire application system

Ministry, university council to conduct special probe through Sept. 23

Education Minister Choi Kyo-jin drinks water during a plenary session of the National Assembly's Education Committee on Wednesday. [Yonhap]
Education Minister Choi Kyo-jin drinks water during a plenary session of the National Assembly's Education Committee on Wednesday. [Yonhap]

Education Minister Choi Kyo-jin said Wednesday the government would review converting the university application system — currently run by private companies — into a publicly operated framework. The announcement came in the wake of a system failure at Uway Apply during the early admissions application period, which prompted a broader review of how the application process is managed. About 250 students have been identified as eligible for relief.

Speaking at a plenary session of the National Assembly's Education Committee on Wednesday, Choi said the ministry would "thoroughly investigate accountability based on the results of the special probe and also review a shift to a public application system."

Under the current structure, individual universities each contract separately with private application agencies. Students submit their early admissions, regular admissions and supplementary applications through whichever agency their university has contracted with.

Two companies currently operate the application system: Uway Apply and Jinhak Apply. Uway Apply has contracts with 102 universities and Jinhak Apply with 96, with eight universities holding contracts with both.

The Ministry of Education's public acknowledgment of a possible overhaul was triggered by a system failure that occurred Friday. The Uway Apply system went down for about 30 minutes, preventing students from submitting applications normally. The ministry and the Korean Council for University Education extended the application deadline to 7 p.m. that day.

About 250 students have been provisionally identified as eligible for relief in connection with the outage during the early admissions application period. Approximately 1,200 students were unable to submit their applications during the system failure.

"Of the roughly 1,200 relief applications received by 10 a.m. Wednesday, about 250 are provisionally considered eligible," Choi said.

The ministry currently believes the outage stemmed from a conflict between certain functions during a security system upgrade at Uway Apply. However, the exact cause will be confirmed through the special investigation.

The Ministry of Education and the Korean Council for University Education launched an on-site investigation of Uway Apply on Wednesday, with a special probe team operating through Sept. 23. The investigation covers not only the precise cause of the failure but also the company's response afterward and the overall management of the application system. The probe period may be extended if necessary.

Based on the investigation's findings, the ministry plans to determine accountability while also reviewing whether to maintain the current private-agency-centered application structure. Specific details on who would operate a public system and how it would function were not provided.

"As the person responsible for admissions policy and management, I feel a very heavy sense of responsibility," Choi said. "I will do my utmost to ease the anxiety of students and parents through thorough follow-up measures."

She added that the ministry would take every precaution to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the regular admissions round and beyond.


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