South Korean universities’ use of school violence statistics in admissions is putting them in a difficult position and risks reinforcing inequalities, academics have warned, as institutions prepare for the policy to be rolled out nationwide.

The government will require universities to adopt anti-bullying admissions policies from next year but many institutions have already enacted such measures early – penalising applicants who have a history of bad behaviour in earlier stages of their education.

Leading institutions including Seoul National University and Kyungpook National University are among those that have adopted these measures.

reported that data obtained by Rebuilding Korea Party lawmaker Kang Kyung-sook’s office showed six of the country’s 10 national flagship universities rejected 45 applicants in the 2025 admissions cycle because of school violence records.

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The rejections included two applicants to Seoul National University and 22 to Kyungpook National University, which this year introduced a strict, points-based penalty system for assessing misconduct.

Kyungpook deducts 10 points for level 1 to 3 offences, 50 points for levels 4 to 7, and 150 points for transfer or expulsion cases (levels 8 to 9). All 22 rejected applicants failed to overcome these penalties across academic, arts, athletics and essay-based tracks.

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“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.”

The nationwide roll-out will mark a significant cultural shift in how South Korea approaches school discipline.

Theodore Jun Yoo, associate professor in the Department of Korean Language and Literature at Yonsei University, said the policy highlights both the moral urgency of the issue of bullying and the systemic failure to tackle it.

He said rejecting students outright “is a step in the right direction” but warned that bullying “keeps getting worse” and starts “much earlier, even in fourth grade”.

Yoo said schools often rushed to form disciplinary committees “just to check a box and ‘solve’ the problem on paper” rather than addressing “deeper social dynamics”. 

“Until educational institutions begin to approach bullying not merely as a breach of rules but as a profound social wound requiring communal repair, this damaging cycle will persist, inflicting harm on all parties involved.”

Some institutions are already adopting a zero-tolerance stance.

Ten national teacher’s colleges, including those in Gyeongin, Busan and Seoul, have announced that from next year any applicant with a school violence record – regardless of severity – will be automatically disqualified.

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��Ƿɱ𱹱��,��educators warn that the policy puts universities at risk of overstepping their educational role.

David A. Tizzard, professor in Korean Studies at Seoul Women’s University, said that while accountability for past misconduct was essential, exclusion could reinforce inequality.

“Education itself is often the most powerful form of correction,” he said.

“To exclude young people like this risks reinforcing cycles of marginalisation…any moral- or character-based assessment should be nuanced, proportionate and transparent, rather than punitive or absolute.”

Tizzard added that the new policy could “entrench inequality if disproportionately applied to disadvantaged students or those attending schools with stricter reporting cultures”.

Chang H. Kim of Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University noted that public support for the move is overwhelming.

“Over 90 per cent of people support the policy,” he said. “It makes universities act as moral gatekeepers, which blurs the traditional line of what a university is for.”

He cautioned that the change could have unintended effects on student well-being.

“This policy could be a double-edged sword,” he said.

“It might help victims feel safer and more supported but it could also create an environment of high anxiety and mistrust, where students fear that any small fight could leave a permanent mark on their future.”

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tash.mosheim@timeshighereducation.com