On June 17, 2026, the South Korean Ministry of Education took a decisive step in reshaping the country’s higher education landscape, finalizing a plan to select and support three national flagship universities outside the capital region as part of its ambitious 'Making 10 Seoul National Universities' policy. The move, announced at the Government Sejong Complex during a high-level intergovernmental council, signals a strategic pivot from broad, even-handed funding to concentrated investment in select institutions with the potential to drive regional growth and innovation.
According to Financial Economy, the Ministry, in collaboration with seven other government agencies—including the Ministry of Science and ICT, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport—unveiled the '2026 Package Support University Selection Plan.' This initiative will see three universities chosen from a pool of nine non-metropolitan national flagship universities, such as Jeonbuk National University and Jeju National University, to receive approximately 1 trillion KRW (about $720 million USD) annually each from 2026 to 2030.
What’s the rationale behind this concentrated approach? The government aims to create regional “growth engine” brand colleges and AI flagship universities that act as hubs for education, research, and industry collaboration. The selected universities will not only receive financial support for academic programs and research infrastructure, but also play a central role in the '5 Poles 3 Special Shared Universities' initiative, which encourages resource and curriculum sharing among regional institutions. This is intended to foster a more vibrant, interconnected academic and industrial ecosystem outside the Seoul metropolitan area.
“The focus is not just on university support, but on transforming the structure of regional industry and talent,” explained the Ministry of Education, as reported by NewsJeju. “We want to ensure that talent development, research, and infrastructure sharing at these universities directly contribute to attracting businesses and creating jobs in their regions.”
To be considered for this significant boost, universities must submit promotion plans jointly developed with local governments and private sector partners by the end of July 2026. The evaluation process is rigorous, with criteria centering on four main pillars: alignment with the national spatial transformation project, regional conditions and readiness, university preparedness—including AI infrastructure—and the scope of educational and research innovation. The government’s working committee, comprised of ministry officials and external experts, will review these plans using not only the submitted documents but also data from the national data portal, university disclosures, and administrative records.
As Korea University News highlights, the selection process is designed to reward those universities that best demonstrate their capacity to serve as regional innovation hubs. This means showing strong connections to local strategic industries, robust partnerships with businesses, and clear plans for integrating AI and other future-oriented technologies across both undergraduate and graduate programs. The Ministry has emphasized that this is not a competition universities can win alone—collaboration with local governments and industry is essential.
Jeju National University, for instance, is assembling a dedicated task force and developing a comprehensive business plan focused on energy, clean bio, small satellite and aerospace, and aircraft maintenance (MRO). According to NewsJeju, the university is working closely with Jeju provincial government and local industry leaders to ensure that its proposal aligns with both regional policy priorities and the Ministry’s criteria. The plan includes expanding AI education campus-wide and fostering interdisciplinary research that links AI with the university’s strategic growth fields.
Similarly, Jeonbuk National University is preparing to compete for this coveted status, with local officials stressing the importance of a coordinated approach. "Regional growth engines and university innovation are not separate issues; they must advance together," said Yang Sun-hwa, Director of Future Advanced Industry at Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Province, according to Jeonbuk Ilbo. "We are working closely within the provincial government and maintaining ongoing communication with Jeonbuk National University to develop a competitive plan." Yang also noted that the selection outcome will have far-reaching implications, influencing everything from talent retention and business attraction to research competitiveness and the quality of life for young people in the region.
The financial breakdown for each selected university provides a sense of the scale and ambition of the project. As reported by Munhwa Ilbo, about 400 billion KRW is earmarked for the creation of growth engine brand colleges, 100 billion KRW for AI flagship university development, and 200 billion KRW for shared university initiatives. The remaining funds will support broader educational and research reforms, infrastructure upgrades, and partnerships with local industry. This represents a dramatic increase in funding compared to previous years and is expected to catalyze structural changes in regional higher education and economic development.
The selection process will culminate in the third quarter of 2026, following a series of reviews by the working committee and a final decision by the government-wide council chaired by the Prime Minister. The Ministry has made it clear that only those universities able to present a compelling, integrated vision for regional transformation—one that aligns with the government’s national spatial transformation project and demonstrates real potential for innovation—will be chosen.
Education Minister Choi Kyo-jin summed up the government’s aspirations, stating, “For the concentrated nurturing of national flagship universities to succeed, collaboration with related ministries is essential for industrial growth, job creation, and improving settlement conditions. By working together from the selection stage, we aim to create regional growth success models and balanced development outcomes that citizens can truly experience.”
The stakes are high. As the July deadline for proposal submissions approaches, universities and local governments are racing against the clock to finalize their plans and forge the partnerships necessary to win this historic investment. The outcome will not only shape the educational and economic fortunes of the selected regions for the next decade but could also serve as a blueprint for balanced national development across South Korea.
With the government’s new strategy now in motion, all eyes are on which institutions will rise to the challenge and how these bold investments will reshape the country’s academic and industrial landscape in the years to come.