Broadcast date: Friday, March 8, 2024, 10 p.m. The cabinets lined up are labeled with the names of universities that have disappeared into the back of history. The Korea History Foundation’s Closed University Archives is a place to store records from closed schools. It opened last year, but this month, another archive of the same size will be built. As soon as it opened, it was filled with records from 18 universities and 620,000 students and faculty. As the school-age population rapidly decreases, universities say, “Every year is different.” In particular, there is a saying that “universities close in the order that cherry blossoms bloom,” and the sense of crisis felt by local universities is serious. 《Tracking 60 Minutes》 visited universities at the crossroads of existence and closure to capture their reality. What solutions do our schools need now? ■ Our school now… Gangwon Tourism College, which decided to “voluntarily close” Gangwon Tourism College, which closed down on the 29th of last month, will be the first to put name tags on its empty cabinets. Last month, the production team visited Gangwon Tourism College, which was about to close. The campus was already ready to close. Most of the building entrances were locked. There was not a single footprint on the playground covered in white snow. It was hard to believe that the campus once had 2,500 students. Gangwon Tourism College was the first to open a casino department, gaining popularity, but its popularity quickly waned when universities in the metropolitan area created similar departments. Four years ago, the school closed six departments, including the casino department, and operated only the nursing department, but last year, the school decided to voluntarily close. We met faculty members who were preparing to close the empty school and heard the reason. “Fifty percent of the enrollment is gone. To the metropolitan area. We only have one department, so if this happens, what the... It’s an unspeakable situation. If they had said, ‘If we just hold out this year and get through this year, things will get better,’ we would have tried to do something. But this isn’t something that can be accomplished in a year.” Gangwon Tourism College official - The situation was the same at Korea International University in Jinju, Gyeongnam, which closed six months before Gangwon Tourism College. I toured the school with former student council president and alumnus Jeong-won Ko. The campus where students would have attended just a year ago was almost in ruins. The exterior walls of the buildings had fallen off and trash was left as it was. Jeong-won said that the school he remembers was “a place where there were always a lot of students,” and that the changed scenery was “complicated.” The bench where Jeong-won often ate jajangmyeon with his friends was covered with fallen leaves. “I was a little sad that there would be no more juniors for me, and I would never be able to say things like, ‘Do you want to go to school?’ to the teachers, professors, or friends who taught me. I think it was a bit disappointing and complicated.” Mr. Go Jeong-won, a graduate of Korea International University (closed) - ■ The number of universities in financial crisis has increased by 16 in 2 years. Professors who have started to focus on recruiting students instead of conducting research The number of universities in financial crisis was 38 as of last year. It has increased by 16 in 2 years. The professors we met said that they feel that the schools are getting more and more difficult. Professor Do Jin-young of Gyeongju University is a professor of cultural heritage who takes advantage of the regional characteristics. Professor Do's eyes welled up as he took out a photo he took while on a field trip with students a few years ago. As recruiting new students became increasingly difficult, Professor Do had to jump into recruiting students himself. Instead of his original role of nurturing juniors or conducting research at universities, he ended up asking high schools to let him hold information sessions. Professor Do expressed his bitterness, saying that he was treated like a peddler at high schools. Professor Min Jeong-sik, who is currently working at a university in Jeollanam-do, majored in mathematics from undergraduate to doctoral level, but now teaches Korean. This is because the school closed its mathematics department for financial reasons. “We hope that it won’t be the last, but now that time has passed, we have anxiety that ‘it could be the last. ’” Professor Do Jin-young, Department of Cultural Heritage, Gyeongju University - “It was closed down. It wasn’t just the Department of Mathematics that was closed down, but the Department of Physics as well. Everything was closed down, and all the professors were scattered.” Professor Min Jeong-sik who experienced the closure of the department - ■ Our department is now “closed down”... Will there be only three French Education departments left in the country? “Congratulations, seniors!” Choi Soo-jung (pseudonym) gave a bouquet of flowers to her graduating seniors at the degree award ceremony of the Department of French Education at Pusan ​​National University. It has become difficult to see such a scene when Soo-jung graduates. The Department of French Education at Pusan ​​National University has stopped accepting new students this year, so Soo-jung has no first-year juniors. Soo-jung heard the news of the department’s merger from the school less than a month after she entered the department two years ago. Lee Yoon-kwon, who was the student body president of the Department of French Education at Pusan ​​National University at the time, recalled that moment and said, “I was shocked.” There are only four universities nationwide that are recruiting freshmen for the French Education major this year: Seoul National University, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Korea National University of Education, and Kyungpook National University. However, Kyungpook National University also announced that it will not accept freshmen for the French Education major starting next year. Current students are protesting the school’s sudden announcement of the closure of the department and are looking for solutions. They filed a constitutional petition on the 27th of last month, pointing out that the Higher Education Act and Private School Act do not clearly state the procedures and criteria for closure. A total of 795 cases of departmental mergers and consolidations occurred between 2020 and 2022, and eight out of ten of them were at local universities. If this trend continues, there will be few academic subjects left to study in local areas. “They said that what schools pursue is efficiency or strengthening competitiveness, but of course those are important, but I think that universities can also contribute to academic research and exploration.” Mr. Lee Yoon-kwon, a student majoring in French education at Pusan ​​National University - “I think that national universities should take responsibility for neglected academic subjects.” Mr. Lee Do-hyeon, the president of the French education major at Kyungpook National University - ■ Survival strategy chosen by local universities: attracting international students Keimyung University in Daegu held a special graduation ceremony. There were about 60 graduates wearing mortarboards, all of whom were international students. Keimyung University is working hard to attract more international students. Mr. Tetutjatin is from Myanmar and came to Keimyung University to study abroad and is currently working as an assistant in the international cooperation team. When Mr. Tetutjatin first arrived, there were only 50 Myanmar students, but the number has more than doubled in two years to 130 now. One of the survival strategies chosen by many local universities, like Keimyung University, is attracting international students. The Ministry of Education has set a goal of increasing the number of international students from the current 160,000 to 300,000 by 2027. Will local universities be able to survive if the number of international students increases? ■ Will the government's survival strategy for local universities, 'Global University 30', keep the golden time? "The golden time for local universities." The experts the production team met all agreed that "local universities cannot miss this moment." If the current admission quota is maintained, universities across the country are expected to fall short by more than 200,000 students by 2040. In response, the education authorities have also come up with a plan called 'Global University 30'. If local universities come up with innovative ways to grow together with local governments and local companies, the plan is to support local universities with 100 billion won over 5 years to foster them into world-class local universities. They plan to select 30 universities by 2026, and already designated 10 as glocal universities last year. Of the designated universities, 4 have submitted plans for integration between universities. “Chuncheon for agricultural life sciences, AI-related IT technology, Samcheok for hydrogen energy, hydrogen storage and transportation clusters, and specializing the campuses in those regions’ specialized industries (plan)” President Kim Heon-young of Kangwon National University - Kangwon National University has become a global university by presenting an innovative plan to merge with Kangwon National University to move toward a ‘one province, one national university’. President Kim Heon-young of Kangwon National University met with the production team and explained the purpose of the integrated model, saying, “In a shrinking society where the working-age population is decreasing, a ‘compact’ system is definitely necessary.” However, there are also voices opposing the integration between universities. Mr. Ahn Hyun-seok (pseudonym), who opposes the integration of Kangwon National University and Kangwon National University, emphasized the significant weight universities occupy in the regional economy and expressed concern that in a situation where the number of students cannot be reduced, more students will be reduced from the Samcheok or Gangneung campuses rather than the main campus. Opposition from students has continued not only at Kangwon National University, but also at Pusan ​​National University, Pusan ​​National University of Education, Chungbuk National University, and Korea National University of Transportation, all of which are pursuing integration. “Integrating two institutions that have been operated separately for a long time is never easy. There may be differences in the degree of conflict between the members and the university headquarters, but I think it is a natural process.” Kim Woo-seung, Vice Chairman of the Global Committee - This year, 10 more schools are scheduled to be selected as global universities. Local universities all over the country are diligently preparing for innovation. Can we protect this golden time? The episode “How to Survive Local Universities, Our School Now” will air on KBS1TV at 10 p.m. on March 8. Since 1983, Korea’s first investigative program Tracking the truth with the eyes of common sense Every Friday at 10 p.m. KBS1 “Tracking 60 Minutes” ✔ Tips: 010-4828-0203 / Tracking 60 Minutes homepage / [email protected] ▶Homepage: https://program.kbs.co.kr/2tv/culture... ▶KakaoTalk Channel: http://pf.kakao.com/_fxgiyxj