EXPOSÉ: Korea's Higher Education Certification Crisis: How IEQAS Fails International Students

EMBARGOED UNTIL 12:00 EST, MAY 13, 2025

For International Press, Educational Institutions, and Human Rights Organizations

Human Cost of Systemic Failures

Through our advocacy work, we have documented multiple cases of international students suffering serious adverse health impacts as direct consequences of sexual violence at Korean universities. These include severe psychological trauma, social isolation, academic disruption, and physical health deterioration. International students are particularly vulnerable due to language barriers, cultural differences, and limited support networks. The silencing of these experiences further compounds the trauma, as victims have nowhere to turn for institutional support or justice. These are not abstract concerns but real, ongoing suffering that demands immediate attention.

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THE COMPROMISED IEQAS CERTIFICATION

The International Education Quality Assurance System (IEQAS) is the Korean government's official accreditation program for universities serving international students. According to the Ministry of Education's own documentation:

"IEQAS is a comprehensive quality assurance system designed to evaluate and certify Korean universities' international education programs... to ensure they meet international standards for quality and safety."

IEQAS certification is presented to foreign governments, international universities, prospective students, and parents as an authoritative guarantee that a Korean university is safe and ethical for international students.

However, our investigation into Dongguk University – which maintains IEQAS certification – reveals this system may be fundamentally compromised.

Critical Timing: Recent Certification Despite Ongoing Issues

In a stark illustration of the system's failure, Dongguk University proudly announced on January 20, 2025, that it had been granted IEQAS certification for the 2024 cycle. According to their official announcement, this certification is valid from March 2025 to February 2026. This means that less than four months after receiving this prestigious certification – which supposedly validates their international student protections – our exposé revealed serious structural safety failures and partnership misrepresentations at the institution.

The timing reveals a troubling disconnect: the same institution that was deemed worthy of IEQAS certification in January 2025 was demonstrably falsifying international partnerships and failing to address sexual violence risks by May 2025. This raises fundamental questions about the rigor and effectiveness of the entire certification process.

Three Critical Failures of the IEQAS System

1. Certification Despite Sexual Violence Risks

Dongguk University maintains IEQAS certification despite:

• Housing a film program with the highest risk score (81/100) for sexual violence according to the Korean Women's Development Institute
• Maintaining an all-male faculty in its Graduate School of Digital Image and Contents
• Disbanding its Women's Student Council in 2018
• Documented negligence in handling sexual assault cases, including a 2016 incident where the university took no action for six months after being notified by prosecutors

The Korean Women's Development Institute (KWDI) research shows 61.5% of female arts students experience sexual violence, with 65.5% of campus sexual violence perpetrated by professors. Yet Dongguk's IEQAS certification remains intact.

2. Certification Despite Falsified International Partnerships

Dongguk University claimed 381 international university partnerships as recently as May 12, 2025, on its official website. However:

• A Canadian university has officially confirmed they "do not have a student exchange agreement with Dongguk University" despite being listed as a partner
• Multiple U.S. universities have acknowledged they are re-evaluating their partnerships with Dongguk
• A prominent global university ranking organization has escalated these concerns to their management

Korean universities receive government funding partly based on their international partnerships, raising serious questions about potential financial fraud. Yet the Ministry of Education has failed to investigate or reconsider Dongguk's IEQAS status.

3. Systematic Government Inaction

On April 10, 2025, we submitted conclusive evidence of falsified partnerships to seven Korean government oversight bodies, including:

• Ministry of Education
• National Research Foundation
• Korean Council for University Education

Since that date – now over a month ago – all seven agencies have maintained complete silence despite direct follow-up requests. This extended period of government inaction constitutes a critical failure of oversight that endangers students and compromises the integrity of the entire certification system.

Expanding Investigation Scope Due to Government and University Unresponsiveness

Due to the complete unresponsiveness of Korean government agencies and Dongguk University for over 34 days, we are now expanding the scope of our investigation to examine:

• Partnership claims of additional Korean universities
• Faculty gender ratios across departments at multiple institutions
• Other structural factors that could render Korean universities "too risky" under Title IX laws for U.S. universities to maintain as partner institutions

This expanded investigation has already revealed concerning patterns across multiple institutions and raises serious questions about the viability of U.S.-Korea academic partnerships under Title IX compliance requirements.

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WHY THIS IS A SYSTEMIC ISSUE, NOT AN ISOLATED CASE

IEQAS Certification Appears Compromised

If Dongguk can maintain IEQAS certification despite:

• Documented sexual violence risks
• Falsified international partnerships
• Misrepresentation for financial gain

Then the certification itself cannot be trusted. This means either:

• The certification process is negligently lax, or
• It's intentionally compromised to prioritize recruitment targets over student safety

Either scenario implicates the entire Korean higher education governance system.

The 300,000 International Student Target Creates Perverse Incentives

The Korean government's ambitious goal to recruit 300,000 international students by 2027 creates systemic pressure to:

• Present Korean universities in the best possible light
• Reduce oversight of safety issues
• Maintain IEQAS certifications regardless of compliance
• Prioritize international reputation over accountability

What began as an investigation into one university has revealed a disturbing pattern where government funding mechanisms based on international partnerships may be creating perverse incentives across multiple institutions.

Enrollment Numbers Over Student Safety?

The Korean Ministry of Education's official announcement of the "Study Korea 300K Project" reveals a troubling emphasis on quantity over quality. The press release explicitly states the goal is for "Korea to be the top 10 world-leading countries for study abroad by 2027" with "anticipated benefits" focused primarily on "stimulating regional economy" and "enhancing global competitiveness." Notably absent from these stated priorities is any meaningful discussion of student safety, particularly for vulnerable international students.

This raises critical questions: Is the Korean government willing to compromise safety standards and oversight to achieve their ambitious enrollment targets? Are they prioritizing raw enrollment numbers over the actual well-being of international students they're aggressively recruiting? The case of Dongguk University suggests a system where certification remains intact despite clear evidence of structural failures, indicating that the answer to these questions may be deeply troubling.

Korean Education Experts Sound the Alarm

Even Korean education experts have publicly criticized the government's approach. In a November 2023 Times Higher Education report, Jun Hyun Hong, a professor at Chung-Ang University who served as an adviser to the government on the 300K initiative, warned that the approach was "unsustainable," stating:

"The government is only focusing on [a] number – I always say that education now is considered part of industry, but this is an industrial view, this is not an education view."

Professor Hong specifically cautioned that "without proper structures to ensure quality of education for overseas students, a push to significantly increase their numbers could ultimately backfire." He revealed that despite his warnings, "the government is not that interested in that yet."

Other experts in the article echoed these concerns:

• Minah Park from the Korean Council for University Education acknowledged they needed "more time" to properly serve international students
• Chong-yang Kim, president emeritus at Hanyang University, criticized the lack of a concrete strategy to support institutions
• Multiple experts highlighted inadequate support structures for international students

With less than two years remaining until the 2027 deadline and an estimated gap of 120,000 students to reach the target (as of late 2023), our evidence suggests the government may now be in "panic mode" - willing to overlook serious safety issues, partnership misrepresentations, and quality concerns in a desperate push to achieve their numeric goal.

Interconnected Failures of Financial Oversight and Sexual Violence Prevention

Our advocacy has revealed a pattern of "dual neglect" where:

1. Financial oversight failures (like ignoring falsified partnerships) and
2. Sexual violence prevention failures (like ignoring KWDI's risk assessment)

Both stem from the same root causes:

• Weak oversight mechanisms
• Lack of transparency
• Power imbalances
• Culture of silence
• Prioritization of institutional reputation over individual safety

Government inaction on the more easily provable financial allegations directly reinforces conditions that enable sexual violence to flourish.

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INTERNATIONAL IMPLICATIONS AND CASCADING CONSEQUENCES

Foreign Universities' Trust in IEQAS Is Now Compromised

Foreign universities can no longer trust a Korean university's IEQAS status as a guarantee of safety or ethics. This casts doubt on every IEQAS-accredited university and undermines the Korean government's entire international education strategy.

The International Cascade Effect Has Begun

We're already witnessing the beginning of what could become a devastating cascade effect:

• Multiple U.S. universities are reviewing their partnerships, citing Title IX compliance concerns
• A Canadian university has already publicly denied partnership with Dongguk
• A global university ranking organization has escalated these concerns to senior management

Title IX Compliance Risk for U.S. Partner Institutions

U.S. universities face significant legal liability if their foreign partner institutions fail to maintain Title IX compliance standards regarding sexual violence prevention and response. As awareness of Dongguk's structural sexual violence risks spreads, U.S. institutions will likely be forced to terminate partnerships to avoid legal exposure.

Economic Threat to Korea's Educational and Cultural Exports

For a country investing heavily in becoming an educational hub and cultural exporter, the economic impact could be devastating:

• Dongguk's film school directly feeds talent into Korea's entertainment industry
• Netflix is investing $2.5 billion in Korean content over four years
• The Korean Wave (Hallyu) depends on maintaining international trust and ethical standards

Government failure to address these issues threatens not just education but Korea's broader cultural export strategy.

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THE K-WAVE CONNECTION: USING CULTURAL EXPORTS TO DRIVE PROBLEMATIC RECRUITMENT

The K-Influencer Program: Promoting Korea While Obscuring Realities

The Korean Culture and Information Service (KOCIS), an affiliate of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, operates a massive "K-influencer" recruitment program that specifically targets overseas creators to promote Korean culture. Key aspects include:

• Recruiting approximately 2,000 K-influencers annually
• Providing specialized training on promoting Korean culture
• Focusing on YouTube content creation
• Expanding from 620 influencers in 72 countries (2020) to 1,856 from 103 countries (2023)
• Generating over 700 million views in 2023, up from just 39,000 in 2020

This government-funded program aims to create positive perceptions of Korean culture globally, with a particular emphasis on the youth demographic that forms the target audience for international student recruitment.

The Dangerous Disconnect

The aggressive promotion of Korean culture through the K-influencer program directly supports the government's "Study Korea 300K Project" by:

1. Creating idealized perceptions of Korean society and education through carefully curated content
2. Building audience desire to study in Korea based on entertainment content rather than educational realities
3. Deliberately avoiding recruitment of current international students who might speak to campus realities
4. Prioritizing global perception management over addressing documented safety issues

This creates a dangerous disconnect: international students are drawn to Korea based on its cultural exports and government-sponsored influencer content, only to face the reality of educational institutions where:

• 61.5% of female arts students report experiencing sexual violence
• IEQAS certification fails to guarantee actual safety or ethical standards
• Government officials maintain silence when presented with evidence of serious problems

Research Confirms: Inadequate Support for International Students

Academic research published in the Education Research International journal has documented the challenges faced by international students in Korea, particularly noting:

• Inadequate support systems for cultural adjustment
• Language barriers that hinder adequate reporting of safety concerns
• Isolation that increases vulnerability to exploitation
• Specific challenges faced by Chinese students, who represent a significant portion of the international student population

This research demonstrates that the issues identified at Dongguk University likely represent systemic problems across Korean higher education institutions.

The Ethical Contradiction

The Korean government's dual strategy presents a troubling ethical contradiction:

1. External Promotion: Aggressively recruiting international students through idealized cultural representations and the K-influencer program
2. Internal Reality: Maintaining IEQAS certification for institutions with documented sexual violence risks, particularly in the very arts programs most connected to the Korean Wave

This represents a potential form of systemic fraud: using popular cultural exports to attract vulnerable international students to educational environments the government knows or should know pose serious safety risks.

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A TIMELINE OF DONGGUK UNIVERSITY'S INSTITUTIONAL FAILURE

The government's ongoing silence since April 10, 2025 extends a much longer pattern of institutional failure:

• 2008: Shingate Scandal reveals Dongguk's pattern of institutional misrepresentation
• Nov 2015: Professor sexually assaults graduate student during drinking event
• Feb 2016: University notified by prosecutors but takes NO action for 6 months
• Aug 2016: Token "professor replacement policy" implemented 9 months after assault
• 2018: Women's Student Council abolished during height of Korea's MeToo movement
• 2020: KWDI research confirms arts programs as highest-risk environments for sexual violence
• Mar 2025: Initial outreach to Dongguk met with complete institutional silence
• Apr 2025: Dismissive response: "For what purpose did you send the email?"
• Apr 2025: Multiple university partners begin reviewing relationships
• Apr 10, 2025: Evidence of partnership misrepresentation sent to seven government agencies
• Apr 29, 2025: Direct campus whistleblowing action with information flyers
• May 4, 2025: Public posts highlighting the ongoing government inaction
• May 12, 2025: Still no response from any Korean government agency after 32 days

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PARADOXICAL RESEARCH FINDINGS: EDUCATION AS RISK FACTOR

Recent academic research published in PubMed reveals the paradoxical finding that higher education levels make women MORE likely to experience sexual violence in Korea - not less. This counters traditional assumptions about education as a protective factor and highlights the unique dangers in Korean academic settings.

The government's failure to create accountability mechanisms despite this known research directly contributes to this paradox.

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URGENT IMPLICATIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL STAKEHOLDERS

For Foreign Universities and Educational Institutions

• Immediate review of partnerships with all IEQAS-certified Korean universities
• Implementation of independent verification processes beyond IEQAS certification
• Establishment of direct reporting mechanisms for international students

For International Students and Their Families

• Exercise extreme caution when considering IEQAS certification as a safety guarantee
• Seek independent verification of university claims, particularly regarding partnerships
• Research specific departments' gender composition and safety records, especially in arts and film programs

For Ranking Organizations and Accreditation Bodies

• Implement verification processes for partnership claims by Korean universities
• Include sexual violence prevention metrics in evaluation criteria
• Consider suspending rankings for institutions with unverified credentials

For Media and Human Rights Organizations

• Investigate the systemic nature of these oversight failures
• Examine how recruitment targets may be compromising safety standards
• Document the experiences of international students in Korean universities

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RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SYSTEMIC REFORM

1. Independent Audit of IEQAS Certification Process

• External evaluation of certification criteria and enforcement
• Verification of all claimed partnerships at IEQAS-certified institutions
• Public reporting of findings and immediate revocation of certification for non-compliant institutions

2. Mandatory Sexual Violence Prevention Standards

• Implementation of international best practices for prevention and response
• Gender balance requirements for faculty in high-risk departments
• Independent reporting mechanisms specifically for international students

3. Financial Transparency Reforms

• Regular audits of partnership claims that impact funding
• Public disclosure of all international partnerships with verification processes
• Financial penalties for misrepresentation

4. Whistleblower Protections

• Strong legal safeguards for those exposing institutional misconduct
• Anonymous reporting mechanisms with international oversight
• Protection against retaliation for students who report sexual violence

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CONCLUSION: THE BROADER IMPLICATIONS

What began as an investigation into one university has revealed potential systemic corruption that threatens the integrity of Korea's entire higher education system. The Korean government's silence in the face of concrete evidence suggests a troubling prioritization of international recruitment targets over student safety and institutional integrity.

Foreign governments, universities, and prospective students must now approach Korea's international education claims with heightened scrutiny. The IEQAS certification, once a mark of quality, has been revealed as potentially compromised – a sobering reminder that official credentials require ongoing verification and accountability.

As Korea pursues its ambitious goal of 300,000 international students by 2027, this exposé serves as an urgent call for fundamental reform of the oversight mechanisms meant to protect those students.

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