Education Ministry confirms 388 students eligible for relief over college application system failure

A total of 388 applicants have been confirmed eligible for relief following a system failure that disrupted the 2027 academic year college early-admissions application process, with the final count likely to rise as 188 cases remain under review.

The Ministry of Education said Wednesday that, as of 6 p.m. that day, it had completed reviews of 1,400 of the 1,588 relief requests received, determining that 388 qualified for remedial measures.

The remaining 188 cases are still being examined. Students confirmed as eligible were given until 10 p.m. Wednesday to submit their applications to the relevant universities. As of 6 p.m., 250 students had already completed their submissions.

The ministry had initially estimated that up to around 1,200 students may have been unable to complete their applications on time due to the system failure — a figure higher than the number confirmed eligible so far.

The ministry and the Korea University Education Council are assessing each case based on login records and application histories from the time of the outage.

The disruption began around 5:50 p.m. Friday, when an error occurred in the Uwayapply application system, preventing some students from completing their submissions and payments.

The council extended the original 6 p.m. deadline by one hour to 7 p.m., but confusion persisted as some students were unaware of the extension.

Backlash over the relief measures has continued. Some students and parents argue that an information gap between those who applied before the extension and those who applied after has undermined the fairness of the admissions process.

They are reportedly organizing rallies — primarily online — to demand the relief measures be withdrawn, and are also considering legal action.

Education Minister Choi Kyo-jin told a plenary session of the National Assembly's Education Committee on Wednesday that students who had already submitted their applications "should have no reason to feel disadvantaged."