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In the 1990s, South Korea (Korea hereafter) was confronted with a new social environment, characterized as globalization and knowledge-based economy. In order to respond to the new environment, there have been considerable reform efforts in Korea higher education over the past two decades. Universities in Korea accordingly transformed their educational structures and contents while becoming familiar with policy buzz words such as change, reform, restructuring, and innovation. Scholarly works identified the feature of Korean higher education reform during that time as neo-liberal and this policy reform thrust was analyzed with both international and domestic pressures (Kim 2010; Jeong 2012; Yim 2012 as cited in Jeong, 2014a). As a result, neo-liberal market principles like competition, marketization, and decentralization (autonomy and accountability) were settled down in policy practice (Jeong 2014a), while creating unique locality in policy appropriations (Kang 2004; Jeong 2014b). Neo-liberalism was highlighted as the fundamental mechanism of extensive reform in Korean higher education in national funding projects which were executed as strong governance in the country (Kim 2008, Jeong 2014b). It should not be overlooked that the other powerful mechanism of reform, ideological process, significantly affected educational change in Korea (Jeong 2015). Subsequent to an educational reform fever for globalization and knowledge-based economy, Korean higher education entered into another stage of megaturbulence. Indeed, there was a strong tension about the sustainability of university education connected to a new social environment which is distinguished from the one in the twentieth century. Recognizing this atmosphere, I, insider of Korean higher education and a critical researcher in the field of Educational Policy Studies, feel the responsibility to answer the question, “what is a dominant policy discourse in current Korean higher education?’’ based on the questions of “what is going on now in Korean higher education?” To answer the above question, I will figure out emerging policy issues in Korean higher education and look into how a dominant policy discourse is created and operated as a policy imperative in Korea. By doing so, I wish this short study reveals a policy response of Korean higher education to new social change, while providing the source of Korean case for the development of the comparative and international education.

New Mission for New Time in Korean Higher Education