Megauniversity/Korea National Open University

Introduction

Geography

The Korean peninsula extends southward from the northeastern section of the vast Asian continent, spanning 1,000km north to south. To the north, the Korean peninsula is contiguous to the northeastern part of China and Maritime Siberia along the borderlines formed by the Amnok(Yalu) River and the Tuman(Tumen) River. To the west across the Sea of Japan lie the Japanese Islands, as if breaking the Pacific Ocean. And the South Sea encircling Korea's southern coast os open to the Pacific Ocean.

Introduction South Korea is a relatively small country with a land size of 100,033 square kilometres and a population of 52 million. Despite its history of colonisation, war, and authoritarian regimes, South Korea has emerged as a liberal democracy and is well-known as one of the leading countries in developing and adopting communication technologies.

Politically, South Korea is now considered a “full democracy”, moving from the classification of “flawed democracy” in 2020, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit’s (2020) Democracy Index 2020.

Freedom in the World 2021: status “free” (Score: 83/100 (Freedom House, 2021).

Liberal Democracy Index 2020: South Korea is placed in the Top 10% bracket – rank 17 of measured countries and with a score of 0.78, considerably up from rank 37 in 2016 (Varieties of Democracy Institute, 2017, 2021).

Freedom of Expression Index 2018: rank 13 of measured countries, considerably up from 65 in 2016 (Varieties of Democracy Institute, 2017, 2019).

2020 World Press Freedom Index: rank 42 of 180 countries (Reporters Without Borders, 2020).

While these numbers show how far the country has come, South Korea has its fair share of challenges and struggles when it comes to freedom of the press and democratic media practices. News media in South Korea is saddled with a history of partnership and complicity with political power under authoritarian rule. Some of the legacy media companies that emerged in such a setting are still very much influential and thrive as cultural producers in South Korea. Although less so today than in the past, journalists consider politics as one of the top five factors that interfere 388 EUN-MEE KIM & JAE-WOO LEE with the freedom of the press. Specifically for the two broadcasters Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) and Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), the President and the ruling party have absolute control over the hiring of the company president and the chairman of the board. The public broadcaster in South Korea is always heavily criticised for aligning itself with whichever party is in control of the presidential office. Adding to this, the plethora of journalists turned congressmembers and public officers has given rise to internal criticism that journalists, without any external pressure, are voluntarily becoming more sensitive to political power. Especially in the recent polarised political environment, public cynicism stands out as a serious problem, as newspapers and journalists are often conflated with either the conservative or the liberal camp, regardless of the quality of journalism.

Overview.

The South Korean education system is renowned for its rigor, high standards, and significant emphasis on academic achievement. It is often cited as one of the top-performing education systems in the world, especially in terms of test scores and university admissions.

Structure of the Education System. Preschool Education: This is not mandatory but is widely available for children aged 3-5. Many children attend kindergarten to prepare for primary school.

Primary Education (Elementary School): This is mandatory and spans six years (ages 6 to 12). Students are taught a broad range of subjects including Korean, mathematics, science, social studies, and ethics.

Secondary Education:Middle School: Lasts for three years (ages 12 to 15), and education is compulsory. Students continue a general curriculum similar to elementary school with added emphasis on subjects like English and technology.

High School: Also lasting for three years (ages 15 to 18), this stage is not compulsory but nearly all students attend. High school is divided into general high schools (focused on academic subjects) and vocational high schools (focused on technical skills). The competition for entry into prestigious high schools is intense.

Tertiary Education: After high school, students may attend universities or vocational colleges. South Korea has a high university enrollment rate, and higher education is highly valued. There are both public and private universities, with Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University considered the "SKY" universities, the most prestigious in the country.

Educational development analysis.

The government has made some efforts to address the pressures of the education system. Reforms have included efforts to reduce reliance on private tutoring and promote more holistic education, including fostering creativity and critical thinking. Efforts are also being made to shift focus from memorization to deeper learning, encouraging students to engage more critically with content. Setting priorities for education The 1960s through the mid-1970s. In 1962 the Korean government introduced a series of five-year economic development plans. The first two five-year plans (1962–1971) emphasized the growth of laborintensive export industries, such as light manufacturing industry (e.g., clothing, textile) and consumer electronic goods industry (e.g., television sets and radios). The primary goal of the educational plan was to provide educated manpower to the economy. The mid-1970s through the 1980s. During this period the government started to recognize the importance of education and other social policies in national development. The fourth five-year plan (1977–1981) included education, public health, and housing as important national policy agenda. The fifth five-year economic plan (1982–1986) emphasized a harmonious development between the economy and society. The priorities were set not only by economic pressure but also by social factors. The 1990s through the present. As the economy became more diversified and changed more quickly, it became neither feasible nor desirable for the government to plan when and where the educated manpower would be most needed or to direct the education system’s response. Society also became more democratized, and the capacity of the civilian sector increased accordingly.

Period	Economy	Education
1960s – mid-1970s	1) Take-off in early 1960s: from import substitution to export-driven, light labor intensive 2) Selective strategic industries in 1970s: exportacceleration, heavy and chemical industries	1) Expansion/upgrading of primary & lower secondary education 2) Emphasis on TVET (late 1960s)  manpower planning
Mid-1970s – 1980s	1) Structural adjustments from late 1970s: steel, shipbuilding, etc. 2) From imitation to innovation in 1980s: electronic industry	1) Expansion/upgrading of upper secondary 2) Expansion of tertiary education 3) Strengthening of TVET
1990s through the present	1) Enhancing national competitiveness in early 1990s 2) Knowledge-based economy from mid-1990s	1) Quality enhancement for K-12 2) Public investment in higher education (e.g., Brain Korea 21) 3) Lifelong Learning

In Korea National Open University, they use a TV lecture, a radio lecture of the education broadcast(EBS), a recording lecture, an Internet lecture as main Medea for self-learning.

Evaluation

They perform evaluation by the task to submit all over the term and the final examination. The task to submit all over the term holds 30% of the whole evaluation, and the final examination holds remainder 70%.

Conclusion.

The rapid expansion of education in Korea is largely accounted for by interactions of education policies, macro development strategies, and sociocultural factors over the last four decades. Owing to the idiosyncrasies of the Korean context, one must be careful not to draw direct implications from the experiences of Korean education. Nevertheless, the following points may shed some light on planning education for development.

Reference

Chung, Bong-Geun. “A Study of the High School Leveling Policy in the Republic of Korea: Its Genesis, Implementation and Reforms, 1974-1995.” Diss. University of Hawaii, 1998.

Joo, Chul-An. “The Politics of Implementing Educational Reform : A Graduation Quota System in Korean Higher Educational Institutions.” Diss. Harvard University, 1990.

Korea Educational Development Institute. Education Indicators in Korea. Seoul: KEDI, 2000.

Lee, Jisoon. “Education Policy in the Republic of Korea .” World Bank Working Paper, 2001.

Lee, Ju-Ho. Employment Policy and Human Resource Development, Seoul: Korea Development Institute, 1996.