Globalization and South Korean Educational Reform in the Mid-1990s

In the mid-1990s, South Korea's government provided its educational system with more support for educational reform than ever before. South Korean President, Kim Young-Sam, with a civilian background, proclaimed that he would show a resolute determination to become an "Education President." Moreover, President Kim created national policies and constructed an educational system to meet the demands of an increasingly global society. This became a key purpose of educational reform in the 1990s. From 1995 to 1997, the Presidential Commission on Education Reform set up by President Kim's government announced four educational reform agendas, reflecting an emphasis on globalization: •May 31, 1995, 48 educational reforms; •February 9, 1996, 30 new educational reforms; •August 20, 1996, 24 reforms; and •June 2, 1997, 18 reforms. This study represents a historical case analysis to the initiation, development, and characteristics of the mid-1990s Korean educational reforms in terms of the government's desire to create an educational system prepared to meet the worldwide trend toward globalization. The research questions are (a) "What were the major factors leading to the initiation of the mid-1990s educational reforms?"; (b) "By what process was the educational reform blueprint of the mid-1990s developed?"; (c) "What were the goals and key components of the mid-1990s education reforms?"; (d) "How are the characteristics of the mid-1990s educational reforms compared with the globalization phenomenon of education and the previous educational policies or reforms of Korea?"; and (e) "What are the implications of the mid-1990s educational reforms on Korea's educational system?" President Kim, the Presidential Commission on Education Reform, and the political motives of President Kim and his followers to attract people's support by satisfying the needs of people were key factors in initiating and developing the mid-1990s educational reforms. The global trend of educational reforms and the mid-1990s educational reforms of Korea have similar characteristics in that both emphasized the decentralization of educational system and education for English and information technology, increased higher education opportunities including women, and enhanced the accountability of schools and the cooperation of education and industry. The global and Korean trends of educational reforms differed in that the global trend emphasized the efficiency and reduction of public educational funding, math and science education, and standardized testing while the mid-1990s trend of Korea emphasized an advanced democratic educational system, increased public educational funding, with little emphasis on math and science education and standardized testing.