Journalist In-yeop Kim of The Korea Economic Daily (Korea’s leading business newspaper) summarized my thoughts on higher education.
I would also like to thank Siwan Kim and Sangjun Lee from DCamp for connecting me to this interview.
https://www.hankyung.com/article/2025081742791
I was fortunate to be born with the kind of talent suited for entrance exams, which gave me the titles of Seoul Science High School and Seoul National University. These titles opened many opportunities for me. Yet, for Korea to advance further, I believe our education system must change.
Recently, I was deeply struck by how AI now surpasses me in so many areas. As a founder with 14 years of experience, here are my thoughts on the future of education:
- Recognize diverse talents. Business requires far more than academic ability: sales, design sense, and many other skills matter. The current system discourages those with strengths outside academics.
- Embrace individual learning paths. Knowledge transfer can be delegated to books, AI, or MOOCs. Students should learn what they want, in the way and at the pace that suits them best.
- Center education on dialogue and discovery. Students with shared interests should explore topics in depth, while also engaging with those from different fields to broaden their perspective.
- Reform tests and admissions. Solving predetermined questions under time pressure has little value. Evaluation should focus on achievements and insights. For example, a top professional gamer should have a path to leading universities.
- Teach practical skills. Ethics, finance, contracts, relationships, fraud prevention, fitness, languages, and even how to enjoy life deserve more emphasis. Traditional subjects like math and science remain important, but should become more elective.
- Provide opportunities for disadvantaged groups. Coming from a low-income background myself, I benefited from gifted education programs, public schools, and national scholarships. I also support ways for wealthier families to contribute more to education, including through donation-based admissions.
- Strengthen unique identity over rankings. Each university should clarify its own culture, specialties, and philosophy, rather than chasing league tables.
There are many other issues: private tutoring, teacher welfare, tuition, graduate student conditions, and more. Korea’s education system has its problems, but compared globally it is still strong, and I believe it can be improved.
I will do my best, in my own role, to repay the debt I owe to Korean education.
