November 4, 2025
SEOUL – For generations of South Korean students, college admission has been more than an academic milestone. It has been the gateway to social mobility, job stability and lifelong status.
Now, in an unprecedented shift in education policy, flagship national universities across the country, including the nation’s most prestigious Seoul National University, have begun rejecting applicants with records of school violence.
According to data obtained by minor Rebuilding Korea Party lawmaker Rep. Kang Kyung-sook’s office, six of South Korea’s 10 national flagship universities turned away 45 applicants in the 2025 admissions cycle due to records of school violence.
The rejections included two applicants to Seoul National University and 22 to Kyungpook National University — the latter of which introduced a strict, point-based penalty system for assessing disciplinary history this year.
The trend will become a new normal; all universities in the country will be required to factor school violence records into admissions beginning in 2026.
“This is just the beginning,” one admissions officer said. “The bar is rising and (school violence aggressors) are expected to take more responsibility.”
South Korea categorizes school violence sanctions on a scale from Level 1 (written apology) to Level 9 (expulsion). While minor offenses in the past were often resolved internally — with teachers or parents urging “reconciliation” — those records, from Level 6 and above, are now mandated to be written into a student’s permanent record.
Universities determine independently how to weigh those sanctions.
For example, Kyungpook National University introduced some of the strictest guidelines yet: 10 points deducted for Levels 1-3, 50 points for Levels 4-7 and a staggering 150 points for transfer or expulsion cases (Level 8 or 9). Of the 22 rejected applicants, all failed to overcome the point penalties, not only those considering the university’s academic track, but also art, athletics and essay-based tracks.
“This isn’t just personal misconduct. School violence is a breach of social trust,” the university said in a statement. “We believe universities have a responsibility to uphold community values.”
That principle is spreading. Ten national teacher’s colleges, including Gyeongin, Busan and Seoul National University of Education, have already announced that starting next year, any applicant with a school violence record, regardless of severity, will automatically be disqualified. Other teacher-training and medical colleges are considering similar measures.
Behind the policy shift lies a deeper cultural change.
Until the mid-2000s, school violence in South Korea was often dismissed as “boys being boys” — or just a private dispute between classmates. Teachers were encouraged to mediate, not penalize, while parents were urged to forgive. The default mode was restoration, not record.
But a string of high-profile cases over the past decade — including suicides linked to bullying, celebrity testimonies, the rise of digital harassment and even the public reckoning sparked by Netflix’s hit “The Glory” — have transformed school violence from a private matter into a full-scale social issue.
“School violence used to be regarded as a personal conflict,” said a high school teacher in Seoul, surnamed Kim. “Now it is treated as a violation of basic rights — and society is demanding long-term accountability.”
For South Korean students, the implications are profound.
Records of school violence remain on official documents for up to two years after graduation, and are even permanent in expulsion cases. That means college admissions, public-sector hiring and some private-sector jobs can be affected.
“School bullying victims say their experiences affected them for a lifetime,” said high school teacher Kim. “School bullies should know their behavior in school may follow them into adulthood — and admissions officers are watching.”