The graduates of humanities and liberal arts are now facing serious unemployment issues. Some even joke that those who major in those subjects eventually end up frying chicken. More specifically, according to a study conducted by Newstomato, 55 percent of humanities majors suffer from unemployment, and some even mention that their major “does not help at all in employment.” Therefore, in order to strengthen the humanities and liberal arts, starting from this year, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has launched the College of humanities' Research and Education (CORE) Business Program. 

According to the official statement about the CORE Business Program from the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRFK), the main vision of the program is “National development through the enhancement of the humanities and liberal arts majors.” The two goals of the program are, first, raise humanities to fit the needs of the society, and second, raise the competitiveness and status of the humanities as a fundamental subject. Once these two goals are fulfilled, the NRFK stated that not only will other majors study the humanities, but humanities majors will have a larger spectrum of selecting careers, too.

KU and CORE

Korea University (KU) was chosen for the CORE business program, along with 16 other universities, to be provided with subsidies of a total of 45 billion won. Out of the 46 schools that applied, the schools chosen for the program included Seoul National University (SNU), Sogang University (SU), Hanyang University (HU) and other prestigious schools while Yonsei University (YU) failed to make it in the list. The schools were chosen based on the proposals of each school about how they aim to promote humanities and liberal arts majors through the CORE Business Program. One important point to notice is that KU has been selected to receive the highest amount of subsidy, to the tune of 3.7 billion won. 

Specifically, the CORE Business Program presents four development models which are as follows: global regional studies, humanities-based major convergence, intensive fundamental studies, and college of fundamental liberal arts. Based on these four models, the universities are required to create unique and independent plans to fulfill the goal of the CORE Business Program. The universities can choose more than one from these models and use them appropriately for the humanities majors.

Out of these four models, KU is namely focusing on the global regional studies, which mainly fosters global elites who can speak the language of each country fluently. In KU, four majors in the College of Liberal Arts are namely targeted, which include German, Russian, Spanish, and Japanese Language and Literature. By designing programs that suit each country, the school is hoping an increased employment in the countries of those languages.

Two Sides of the Story

It would seem as though the students of humanities and liberal arts majors would be greatly delighted over this new program. However, in January 6, the student body presidents of nine universities protested against the CORE Business Program in front of the Gwanghwamun Integrated Government Building. Out of the 16 universities that were chosen for the program, there certainly would be a reason why more than half of the student representatives stood up against this seemingly wonderful program.

The CORE Business Program was not the only program that the student body presidents fought for. They also objected to the “Program for Industrial needs— Matched Education (PRIME) Business Program.” The PRIME Business Program is exactly the opposite of the CORE Business Program as it focuses on the promotion of industrial education. In other words, the routes of the two programs completely differ since one reforms the humanities, while the other reforms industrial education.

▲ Nine student body presidents protesting against the CORE Business Program. Provided by KUSA.

▲ President Park speaking in front of the Gwanghwamun Integrated Government Building. Provided by KUSA.

However, the final and implicit goal of both programs when aggregating the statements made by MOE is the same: to raise employment rates. This ultimate purpose of the government and the university is exactly what made the students go against the programs, arguing that they refuse to be educated as “employment robots.” According to Park Se Hoon (’13, Political Science and International Relations), the President of Korea University Student Association (KUSA), “The universities seem to be adjusting the students to fit to the companies.” He warned about the loss of the essence of the humanities as the universities turn into employment factories.

Another problem he mentioned was about how hastily the two programs were initiated. According to Park, the programs originally aimed to reform the humanities based on the autonomy of the students of each humanities major. However, in reality, the university had quickly submitted the applications for the programs to fit the deadlines without hearing the words of the students. “It is true that the university would have wanted to receive that money as soon as possible,” he also added.

In addition, according to Lim Hee Sung, the researcher for the Korea Higher Education Research Institute (KHEI), the CORE Business Program does have a lot of flaws that are not well-known to the general public. While the CORE Business Program might seem to have a clear strategy based on careful planning, Lim argued that its scale is much smaller than that of the PRIME Business Program. She added that it is merely an “artifice planned by the government to customize students to meet the needs of the worker society.” While unemployment is indeed a problem, Lim insisted that the humanities are being sacrificed for employment by the government.

Regarding the CORE Business Program, there are two completely different sides of the story. While the government and the universities each have their own goals of employment rates and money, the students have completely different opinions. As the people who are wishing to receive a fair education from schools, whether or not they guarantee a good job in the future, the students are claiming that the CORE Business Program is ruining their vision. The CORE Business Program has just started this year, and it is unclear whether it would raise employment or the core value of the humanities yet. Therefore, before this program turns into a manipulation for raising employees, the students should keep a good eye on whether the CORE Business Program successfully promotes the humanities and liberal arts majors.

▲ Background image of Korea University. Provided by KU.