PPP Blames President Lee for College Early Admissions Meltdown

People Power Party (PPP) leader Jang Dong-hyuk criticized President Lee Jae-myung on the 21st over the 'system meltdown' in which applications for the 2027 academic year college early admissions process (in which universities admit students before the regular admissions round) failed due to a website outage, saying, "The person who must take overall responsibility is President Lee Jae-myung himself." Aiming his remarks at Education Minister Choi Kyo-jin, who had said that "applicants who applied first will, in fact, suffer no disadvantage," Jang asked, "Would he have been able to say this if the problem involved his own children?" and declared, "We will definitely hold the education minister accountable." The PPP also called for Minister Choi's resignation and disciplinary action.

PPP Policy Committee Chairman Lim I-ja said, "We will not stop at managing this crisis; we will fundamentally fix the operation and management systems of the application system." National Assembly Education Committee Chairwoman Kim Hee-jung said, "The computer system has come back online, but the lives of the children who studied hard for 12 years and their parents cannot simply go back to normal as if nothing happened," pledging a comprehensive review of the system.

Besides the party leadership, the day's forum was attended by Education Committee members Lee In-sun and Seo Bum-su, among others, who questioned officials from the Education Ministry, UwayApply, and the Korean Council for University Education about their inadequate countermeasures and responses. From UwayApply, Chief Technology Officer Byeon Jang-seop, Executive Director Seo Hyun-gon, and Application Processing Business Head Yu Seok-han attended. Kang Joo-ho, president of the Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations, along with other teachers' organizations and parents' representatives, were also present, urging disciplinary action against those responsible and Minister Choi's resignation.