Affairs of state audits were held for the first time in five years. On October 12th, the audit of Pusan National University (PNU) and Gyeongsang National University (GNU) was held at the University Headquarters. For members of PNU who missed the news due to overlapping midterm exam periods, "Channel PNU" summarizes and introduces significant issues related to PNU that were dealt with in the audit.

■ Training Semiconductor Talent

Cha Jeong-In, the president of PNU, and other National Assembly education committee members pointed out the problems with the government's policy to train semiconductor workers. Cho Kyung-Tae (Representative, the People Power Party) said, "If you look at the government's policy to train semiconductor talent, they call for balanced national development only with words. We can achieve balanced regional development only when fostering high-quality human resources in the region."

President Cha also expressed concern about the increase in Seoul metropolitan area universities. "The number of local universities will be directly affected by the number of universities in the metropolitan area. We are not reviewing other alternatives such as adjusting the university's own quota, increasing the existing semiconductor department, and sharing digital innovation." Kim Yeong-ho (Representative, the Democratic Party of Korea) also commented that seven out of eight central contract departments concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area, stressing the need for support to resolve the lack of local universities.

■ New College of Veterinary Medicine 

There were also voices about the new veterinary school. President Cha asked for parliamentary support for its’ establishment. According to data from Seo Byeong-Soo (Representative, the People Power Party), 51 out of 264 students (19.3%) enrolled in the GNU College of Veterinary Medicine, and about ten percent in Kyungpook National University (KNU) are from Busan over the past five years. Students leave Busan and search for a university to study veterinary courses. Rep. Seo said, "The Ministry of Education should actively increase related majors in line with the increase in the number of pets." In response, President Cha said, "Only PNU does not have a college of veterinary medicine among the national universities. We need help from the National Assembly to establish the college."

■ Lax Budget Management

Representatives were also criticized for unnecessary budgets and fraudulent supply and demand. Moon Jung-bok (Representative, the Democratic Party of Korea) criticized, "Last year, we held a workshop at a five-star hotel of our university's innovation support project and used a total budget of 150 million won using 80 million won in souvenirs." On September 15th, the illegal supply and demand of national university student guidance fees, which “Channel PNU” pointed out, also failed to avoid criticism from members of the education committee. Rep. Cho said, "As a result of the audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection, PNU had 578 illegal supply and demand cases. As a local national university, they need self-reflection and to try to prevent a recurrence."

■ Comments Related to Cho Min

Last year, the remarks of President Cha came under fire. It was about Cho Min, the daughter of former Minister of Justice, Cho Kuk, that has a "harsh side" regarding the cancellation of admission to PNU medical school. Kim Byung-Uk (Representative, the People Power Party) said, "Isn't it harsh to other applicants who were eliminated because of Cho Min? Do you have any intention of apologizing?" Rep. Kim also said in a parliamentary inspection in October last year, "I don't know if it's the president of PNU or the lawyer of Cho Kuk's family."

Despite Rep. Kim's criticism, President Cha stuck to his previous position. "We strictly applied the rule, If false documents are included in the submitted documents, we will cancel the admission. The educators should be heartbroken even if they penalize students according to laws and school regulations."

Reporter Lim Hyun-Gyu

Translated by Shin Ji-Won