KCUE chief cautious on randomizing application numbers for regular admissions amid system concerns

Lee Ki-jung cites system conflict risk; follow-up measures to be reviewed after final admissions results

KCUE to examine public takeover of application system after early admissions outage

Ruling, opposition parties clash over dismissal push against Northeast Asian History Foundation chief

Reform Party lawmaker Lee Ju-young (left) questions Korea Council for University Education President Lee Ki-jung during a National Assembly Education Committee national audit on Monday. [National Assembly TV capture]

The head of the Korea Council for University Education said Monday he is taking a cautious approach to introducing randomized application numbers for the regular admissions cycle this year, citing concerns that adding a new feature could trigger system conflicts following the recent early admissions outage.

KCUE President Lee Ki-jung, appearing before the National Assembly Education Committee's national audit, was asked by Reform Party lawmaker Lee Ju-young about plans to randomize application numbers — a measure designed to prevent applicants from estimating competition ratios by tracking sequential registration numbers. "A few universities are already using randomization," Lee said. "We are trying to find some way to apply it to regular admissions as well, but we are quite concerned about whether it might cause another system conflict."

Under the current system, application numbers are assigned sequentially, allowing applicants to infer the total number of registrants at any given point. An application number such as "A20260120," for instance, would indicate that 120 people had applied up to that moment. An analysis submitted by National Assembly Education Committee Chair Kim Hee-jung, conducted through KCUE, found that more than 140 of the 165 four-year universities that provided data had application numbering systems that allowed competition ratios to be estimated this way.

Asked when he became aware of the problem, Lee said, "After Chair Kim raised the issue, I looked into it and learned that was indeed the case."

Estimating competition ratios via application numbers; KCUE says randomization to come when technically certain

Lee also addressed follow-up measures for applicants affected by the early admissions system outage. "When the final list of successful applicants is released, we will look at the distribution of those who submitted applications during the additional filing window and then work out specific Plan A and Plan B options," he said.

Lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties pressed Lee and the Education Ministry on their response during the outage and on accountability for a university application system that has long relied on a private contractor.

People Power Party lawmaker Seo Beom-su noted that both the education minister and the KCUE president had received reports from their homes during the outage and that no direct consultation had taken place between the two. Lee said he would "take those words seriously."

Democratic Party lawmaker Park Beom-gye criticized the ministry and KCUE for failing to secure fundamental improvements despite years of outsourcing the application process to a private firm. He questioned whether Uwayplus had invested sufficiently in system upgrades relative to the revenue it earned, and said closer oversight by the ministry and KCUE could have prevented the incident or reduced the damage.

On whether the application system should be transferred to the public sector, Lee said the binary choice between keeping it private or moving it public was not the key issue. "What matters is accountability — how stable the system is, how strong its security is, and how well it can respond to a crisis," he said.

Lee added that KCUE had formed a task force to prepare for the regular admissions cycle and was reviewing problems with the current system. He said the council would examine whether to shift to a public-sector model or to maintain private operation while strengthening public accountability.

Korea Council for University Education President Lee Ki-jung delivers an apology at a press conference held at the KCUE office in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday. [Yonhap]

Clash over Northeast Asian History Foundation chief; opposition asks about presidential office involvement, ruling party cites operational bias

The national audit also saw the ruling and opposition parties clash over the push to dismiss Northeast Asian History Foundation President Park Ji-hyang. The People Power Party raised allegations that the move was aimed at ousting an official appointed under the previous administration, while the Democratic Party took issue with Park's job performance and the foundation's management.

PPP lawmaker Park Jeong-hun asked Park Ji-hyang whether she had heard that the presidential office had been involved in her suspension and the push to dismiss her. "I have heard such talk," she said. Asked why the board had been called to convene for her dismissal, Park said it was because there were "various difficulties in carrying out duties."

Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Jun-hyeok said two of the three courses in the fourth session of the foundation's "Northeast Asian Historical Issues Education Training" program had dealt with Hwandan Gogi, a controversial text claiming ancient Korean history. He argued that the program was excessively skewed toward a single subject given the many pressing issues — including the Japanese military comfort women, China's Northeast Project and Dokdo. Park said she had not been briefed on the content because it had been organized by the head of the education and public relations office.

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