Pali-pali in South Korea | Motohiro Tsuchiya, Vice-President / Professor, Graduate School of Media and Governance
2023.12.19
I arrived at a station in Busan for the first time, a little less than three hours from Seoul, the capital of South Korea, on the KTX bullet train. Unfortunately, it wasn't a boat trip, but the melody of "Come Back to Busan Port" was playing on repeat in my head. On the way to the hotel in a taxi, the driver spoke to me in Japanese about his memories of living in Tokyo. He said he now takes a boat to Tsushima, an island between Busan and Kyushu, as often as three times a month. He said he enjoys making day trips to soak in the hot springs and have a meal. His two sons, who are already adults and have completed their military service, are apparently sensitive to the taste of Japanese food.
The next morning, I visited the national Pusan National University (PNU). Ten months ago, Keio and Pusan National University signed a student exchange agreement. Professor Lee Moon-sook, who is in charge of international affairs and whom I had met many times at the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU), welcomed me. Despite the heavy rain, she showed me around the student dormitories and the library. Inside the library, there are corners that look like stylish cafes and comfortable spaces resembling the offices of cutting-edge IT companies. I was told that popular seats are reserved online.
In the afternoon, I visited the private Dong-Seo University (DSU), located atop a steep hill. President Chang Jekuk is an alumnus who received his doctorate from Keio. A ceremony was held to sign an academic exchange agreement between Junya Nishino, Director of the Keio Institute of East Asian Studies (KIEAS), and Shin Jung-seung, Director of the East Asia Institute at Dong-Seo University.
After the ceremony, we drove to the university's new Centum Campus, about 40 minutes away. I heard that this site was originally an airport, but after it closed, the university opened the campus on the vacant land at the city's request. The high-rise building houses facilities such as an IBM quantum computer and introductory spaces for cloud service providers, and the rental income goes to the university. Thanks to the development of this once-empty land, the rental fees have reportedly continued to rise. I was told that tuition fees for private universities in South Korea have been frozen by the government for 15 years. This income helps to compensate for that.
It also houses the Im Kwon-taek Film Museum, dedicated to the film director known as South Korea's Akira Kurosawa. There are also studios for learning filmmaking, a hall for musical production and performance, and a space modeled after a hotel for studying the tourism business. In a class for studying musicals, the teacher and students showed us a well-coordinated dance performance, and in a film class, a teacher from Seoul was explaining a movie scene frame by frame.
While I was impressed by the facilities at both universities and the extent of their efforts, I honestly felt a bit bewildered.
The number of children born in South Korea in 2022 was reportedly 240,000. However, the total enrollment capacity of all universities in South Korea is as high as 550,000. This means that even if every child in South Korea were to enter university 18 years from now, they would not even fill half the capacity. Although Busan is South Korea's second-largest city, its population decline is said to be evident. In South Korea, where everything is concentrated in Seoul, everyone aims for a university in Seoul, so universities in Busan may end up empty. Regional universities are making it a top priority to develop attractive facilities for students and to attract international students.
The day after I returned from Busan, a ceremony was held at the Mita Campus to welcome President Seoung Hwan Suh of Yonsei University in South Korea and to confer upon him an honorary doctorate from the Graduate School of Economics. President Suh, who specializes in urban economics, has rapidly globalized Yonsei University and earned high international acclaim by opening the vast 600,000-square-meter Songdo International Campus in Incheon, a short distance from downtown Seoul. I heard that when planning the Songdo International Campus, President Suh also came to visit our very own SFC.
Japan is said to be a country facing future challenges ahead of others, and its birth rate in 2022 was 1.26. In contrast, South Korea's was 0.78. Its birth rate is declining at the fastest pace in the world. It is difficult for universities to contribute directly to increasing the birth rate. To survive in this situation, they have no choice but to enhance their appeal and attract young people from both home and abroad. Spurred on by South Korea's unique "pali-pali" (hurry, hurry) culture, its universities are changing at a furious pace.
Nevertheless, the current members of the university's executive board will undoubtedly retire within 20 years. They could just ride it out, but they are making efforts with an eye to the future. They are working hard now to take measures to ensure they can pass the baton to the future leaders of their universities. The Η (Eta) Village established at SFC is a gift conceived by the leaders of SFC 15 years ago. We, too, must continue to refine our efforts to connect this campus to the future.