Speeches

[Speech at The Korea Society] Building a Creative Korean Economy: The Role of Higher Education 2013.03.13: March 13, 2013

Good afternoon, distinguished members of The Korea Society,

I would first like to thank everyone for taking the time to be here today. It is a great honor to be able to share my views on Building a Creative Korean Economy: The Role of Higher Education, especially in the presence of individual and corporate members who are dedicated to the promotion of cooperation between the U.S. and Korea in a range of crucially important areas, including research and education.

Over the past century, Korea has transformed itself into an overseas aid donor country from an aid receiving country, achieving unparalleled development based largely on its people’s diligence and enthusiasm for education. Indeed, Korea now stands side-by-side with the developed countries to compete on the global stage. Indeed, we can claim to be living in the most successful half-century of the past 5,000 years of Korean history. In spite of colonization and war, Korea was able to triumph over these profound challenges with the help of the construction industry in the 1970s, the automobile industry in the 1980s, the electronics industry in the 1990s and the ICT industry in the 2000s. Behind such impressive achievements, we witnessed the crucial role played by education and the Korean people’s commitment to educational improvements, which helped foster the required industrial labor force. Following in the footsteps of her father, former President Park Chung-hee, who had achieved the ‘Miracle on the Han River’, the current President, Park Geun-hye, has promised the ‘Second Miracle on the Han River’.

There are many obstacles to overcome in order for Korea to achieve an effective response to the challenges of the new global era. The competitiveness ranking of the ICT industry, which led Korea’s economic growth in the 2000s, has plummeted from No. 3 in 2007 to No. 19 in 2011. The political community continues to warn that Korea may be heading into a vicious cycle that begins with a low birth rate and an aging population, which subsequently leads to low growth rates.

As is often highlighted in the media, most companies are seeking to expand their business portfolio in new industries for further opportunities. The important task of finding a new growth engine still remains, however. While complex and rapid changes are underway in all aspects of life, experts state that Korean society seems to have lost the momentum to be in the global vanguard of economic growth.

For consistent economic growth, we need human resources as well as physical capital. Despite Korea’s shortage of physical capital, its development was brought about through creating a national pool of skilled and educated human resources. Systems and policies are also crucial elements in facilitating consistent economic growth. Stable development is hindered by unceasing internal conflicts between different social groups, regions and labor/management. The rampant discord in Korea results in the weakening of “Social Capital”, or people’s ability to cooperate based on trust, as defined by Professor Francis Fukuyama. Without trust for each other, people began to emphasize other factors such as kinship, school relations and regionalism. For stable economic growth, we need to recover trust and create a harmonious social integration.

As many futurologists have predicted, the world is rapidly transforming into a knowledge-based society and knowledge-based economy. In an industrial society, capital and labor used to be the source of productivity. In contrast, in a knowledge-based society, knowledge and information are the core sources.

Advanced and specialized knowledge will certainly become the fundamental elements required to enhance national competitiveness and generate wealth. At a time like this, the role of the university, which creates and extends knowledge, has become more important than ever before. Universities that create new knowledge through research, and then spread such knowledge through education, make change in a knowledge-based society.

In a study released in October 2012, “Stanford University’s Economic Impact via Innovation and Entrepreneurship,” it was estimated that companies formed by Stanford entrepreneurs generate world revenues of $2.7 trillion annually and have created 5.4 million jobs by opening approximately 40,000 companies since the 1930s. Such tremendous figures are more than double Korea’s national GDP. Stanford President John L. Hennessey attributed such accomplishments to “Stanford’s history, which has been pioneering innovations in research, transferring discoveries to the broader community, and educating tomorrow's leaders and entrepreneurs."

In fact, creativity is central to the driving force that generates knowledge, which in turn will produce social and economic benefits, in today’s knowledge-based society. In 2007, the European University Association and the European Union partnered to launch a creativity project to seek alternative solutions to move towards a knowledge-based society and economy, whilst exploring how stakeholders at universities and governments can boost the level of creativity in their teaching curriculum. 32 universities from 21 countries participated in this project to investigate four different areas: creative partnership (university and external stakeholders), creative learners (teaching-learning innovation), creative places (universities, NGOs and governments) and creative university (structure and leadership).

The final report, “Creativity in Higher Education”, demonstrated that without increasing the level of innovation among students, the objective of transforming into a knowledge-based society would be put in jeopardy.

At her inauguration ceremony on February 25, 2013, President Park Geun-hye emphasized that a creative economy is a result of blossoming creativity after integrating science/technology and industries, as well as culture and industries, while eliminating the boundaries between different industries. For this purpose, President Park proposed to actualize a creative economy by producing new markets and new jobs, while advancing science and technology to a world-class level and applying them in all fields of commerce and industry.

The notion of a creative economy refers to an economy that evolves from a following and imitating economy to a leading and original economy. As the new government’s starting point, President Park has prioritized the importance of industry-technology convergence for the expansion of growth potential and creation of new jobs, based on cutting edge science/technology and ICT.

The role of higher education institutions, or universities, becomes even more critical in the creative economy since they are at the front line of knowledge creation and education. Korean universities have been contributing to social development by fostering the necessary human resources to maintain the industrial society. The situation has changed, however. Today’s rapid developments cannot be managed by the mass production of human resources alone. We need to cultivate creative global leaders who can support national growth.

As you may be well aware of, Korea’s traditional culture emphasizes homogeneity and equality. Even in education, the concept of standardization has gained more public popularity instead of the pursuit of sheer academic excellence. Policies or regulations to foster academic excellence fall behind the logic of fairness. Some interpret the statement to ‘provide equal opportunities for all’ as ‘everybody shall have the same abilities as everyone else’.

True global leaders, however, can only be raised with respect and regard for others, and for diversity, as opposed to those who conform to familiar environments.

To foster creativity, universities should change their education system and environment to blend in diverse students’ and faculty members’ experiences and skills in a creative manner. In order to cater to the varied demands and needs of a diverse mix of students, we need to switch to targeted education, departing from mass education or a standardized education system. By creating a university culture that respects communication and diversity, we also need to extend such a culture into the wider society.

University education should also directly and indirectly contribute to social cohesion and conflict resolution. Above all, creative specialists should be produced to perform in this highly specialized society. Only a truly advanced and differentiated university education will make such changes possible, further leveraging personal and national competitiveness.

Instead of a standardized mass education system, Korea’s universities should now re-think the essence of higher education institutions, which must combine elements of education, research and service to society.

In addition to classroom teaching, Yonsei University introduced the world-class Residential College system at the International Campus in Songdo, where students will live and learn together to participate in a range of extracurricular activities that include community service, cultural and physical education programs to enhance their creative thinking, flexibility, adaptability, and problem-solving skills. To facilitate future-oriented education programs, we will also expand targeted and convergence programs at our Songdo Campus, including the IT Techno-Art Division, the School of Asian Studies, and the IT Outstanding Talent graduate program.

Universities also play an important role in combining interdisciplinary knowledge by conducting extensive research. To promote convergence research, Yonsei University established the Institute of Convergence Science in 2013. Yonsei is launching the ‘Third Founding’ initiative based on the motto of “Excellentia cum Dignitate,” or “excellence with dignity.” By creating a research system for convergence science, Yonsei is looking to secure its world-class research abilities.

To educate multicultural leaders and select outstanding students with great potential, Yonsei University has increased the enrollment of students from marginalized social groups. Moreover, we are striving to attract more outstanding international students to expand the proportion of foreign students to the 25% level by 2020.

Undoubtedly, universities cannot produce creative talents for a creative economy through their independent efforts alone. The World Bank has proposed the following conditions as the basic requirements to make a good university: ① excellent teaching and research faculty members and students; ② good governance for educational systems and policies; ③ a stable financial base. While Yonsei University already has outstanding teaching and research faculty members, as well as students, Korean educational policies should be improved to enable universities to gain global competitiveness and secure the requisite financial base and autonomy.

The role (function) or essence of a university should be considered first, before imposing standardized regulations without regards to the uniqueness and distinctiveness of each university. While Korea’s universities are already competing in the global league, concerns are rising that under the current system and regulations for national uniformity, our universities will be standardized downward.

We can also create great programs and environments to attract more international students. With standardized regulations and pressure to decrease tuition fees, however, an increasing number of Korean students will be forced to go abroad to foreign universities for higher quality education. Financial donations to Korean universities still remain at a minimal level in Korea. Inevitably, then, Korean universities will lose their global competitiveness if standardized regulations continue to be enforced.

As the President of Yonsei University, I have already proposed the model of the ‘autonomous private university’ as a solution to this challenge in Korea. In Korea, private universities are institutionally autonomous, but heavily regulated by the government in university policies such as student recruitment and finance. For outstanding universities, the government should ease regulations in order to help them become more genuinely autonomous. Autonomous private universities, as a matter of national policy, will not only maximize their own institutional autonomy, but will contribute also to broader social and indeed national progress, in fact. For instance, Yonsei University is already autonomously implementing measures to address social needs in Korea by providing special support for students from marginalized and disadvantaged groups. Moreover, we will continue to institutionalize the system of transparency and social responsibility, as well as special enrollment and tuition programs for students from marginalized groups.

Under this system, we can create a virtuous cycle in which universities will raise global leaders through their world-class research and quality education. Universities will also integrate and advance society as a whole by resolving social conflicts as we expand learning opportunities for all, which will subsequently reinforce the improvement of the university’s autonomy.

The current rapid changes occurring in the global economy, such as the emergence of developing countries, offer an ideal opportunity for Korean universities to advance in the global league. Korea’s economic level and its huge potential can support at least 10 universities to rank in the top 100 world universities, and the results of President Park Geun-hye’s proposal to actualize a creative economy can contribute to this goal. It is also necessary to perceive higher education as a vital national industry and priority. Promoting higher education will foster global competitiveness of leading Korean universities and attract outstanding students. It can thus become an essential means to advance the national economy.

The question is whether or not Korean universities and the country are willing to pursue this opportunity. Yonsei University is determined to continue to grow as a global university to represent Korea through its sustainable development model that fulfills the needs of society, both domestically and internationally. Thank you.

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