CHEONGJU, South Korea, The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) on Thursday rolled out a package of campaign pledges aimed at improving the competitiveness of public universities outside of the country’s capital area.

The DP’s policy committee chief, Rep. Lee Kai-ho, unveiled the plans, including a hefty investment scheme into nine public universities, as the DP held a policy dialogue at Chungbuk National University in the city of Cheongju, 112 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

Lee said strengthening the competitiveness of public universities outside of the Seoul metropolitan area is crucial to preventing the outflow of young people and fostering balanced national growth.

In particular, the DP promised to increase financial investments into nine key regional universities to the level around 70 percent of the amount given to Seoul National University.

Other measures include introducing new educational curricula, strengthening employment support programs and strategies to improve the research environment at g
raduate schools.

The DP also plans to seek to enact a bill aimed at increasing support for public universities in key regions, as well as other public and private universities in rural areas.

“South Korea has fallen ill from the issue of regional areas on the verge of extinction and the capital area exploding with population, and at the center of it all, is the university problem,” party leader Lee Jae-myung said at the event.

Source: Yonhap News Agency