Medical Professor Becomes New Yonsei President
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
New president of Yonsei University pledged that the school will not adopt an admissions in exchange for donations provision, at least during his presidency.
Medical professor Kim Han-joong confirmed the policy after being appointed as the president of Yonsei University Friday.
The school's foundation selected Kim out of three candidates at the board of directors' meeting. He will lead the university for four years starting February.
``Although universities may have discretion in selecting students, donation-based admission will not be allowed,'' Kim said. His remark comes as his predecessor Jung Chang-young resigned in an allegation that his wife took money from a parent in exchange for admitting the parent's daughter to the school.
He also said the school may drop the essay test in its admission if actual scores of the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) are disclosed instead of the current system in which the score is given only in form of levels.
Graduating from Yonsei's medical school in 1974, Kim obtained doctorates in public health at Seoul National University and North Carolina State University. He started teaching at Yonsei in 1982.
Kim was head of the Korea Society of Health Policy and Administration and a presidential committee on health insurance. He is also head of the board of directors of the Korean Society for Preventive Medicine.
Kim pledged to attract 1 trillion in donations for the school's improvement and finance the new campus to be established in Songdo in Incheon.