1. Reason for Revision 

As the results of evaluation and certification are linked to the government’s financial support and eligibility to take national examinations, the absence of an evaluation, certification, and certification agency, a suspension of evaluation and certification services, or changes in the evaluation and certification standards, procedures, and methods can have a significant impact on universities and society as a whole.

Therefore, in order to prevent damage to universities and students due to a gap in certification agencies, we intend to provide the basis for extending the validity of existing evaluations and certifications when an certification agency does not exist or is unable to carry out evaluation and certification activities.

In addition, in accordance with the Framework Act on the Management of Disasters and Safety, if a large-scale disaster disrupts the management of the academic affairs of a medical school or deteriorates its educational conditions, the proposed revision stipulates that a certification body shall be required to grant a complementation period of one year or longer before decertifying the school.

The revision also provides that the certification agency shall give advance notice of any changes in the evaluation and certification standards, and any suspension or abolition of its evaluation and certification services. It also provides that prior deliberation shall be required in the event of significant changes in the standards, and that the schools to be assessed shall be notified in the event of changes in the evaluation and certification standards.

2. Main Contents

a. Provision of grounds for extending the validity of existing evaluation and certification in the event of vacancy of a certification agency (Article 2-3 of the draft) 

1) Currently, since there are no provisions for cases of vacancy of a certification agency, it is feared that if evaluation and certification services are not conducted due to such vacancy, there will be significant disadvantages for both schools and society as a whole, such as the inability to receive government financial support and the inability to take national exams.

2) Therefore, the revision aims to provide the grounds for extending the validity of existing evaluations and certifications if the existing certification agency is not designated or re-designated, or if there exists no certification agency due to the cancellation of its designation or re-designation, or if the certification agency suspends or abolishes all or a part of its evaluation and certification services, thus making it unable to assess and certify universities.

3) With the introduction of this new Article, the current validity of the evaluation and certification of universities that have previously been assessed and certified will remain valid even in the event of a vacancy in the certification agency, in order to prevent damages to universities and other persons or entities due to a vacancy in the certification agency, and the stability of the evaluation and certification system is expected to be enhanced.

b. Provision of Special Exceptions to Evaluation and Certification of Schools that Operate Medical Courses (Article 2-4 of the draft)

1) Currently, although the agencies responsible for conducting evaluation, certification, and certification services for schools that operate medical courses have introduced and operated an certification system that provides a one-year window for correction instead of a decertification decision in order to minimize disadvantages to their students, the actual application of the system is determined at the discretion of the certification agency. Therefore, in the event of a major disaster, regardless of an institution’s own efforts, if the certification agency decertifies the school and hence its academic operations cannot be carried out normally or the educational conditions deteriorate, it is feared that the school and its students will be put at a great disadvantage and that the training of the nation's medical personnel will be disrupted.

2) Therefore, the revision provides that the certification agency shall grant a complementation period of one year or longer before decertifying a school that operates medical courses in the event of a large-scale disaster even if its academic operations cannot be carried out normally or its educational conditions deteriorate, in accordance with Article 14 (1) of the Framework Act on the Management of Disasters and Safety.

3) It is expected that the revision will minimize disadvantages to schools and students and prevent disruptions in the education or training of the nation's medical personnel by granting such schools an opportunity to restore their educational conditions during the complementation period when their academic operations cannot be carried out normally or their educational conditions deteriorate due to causes or factors unrelated to their own efforts.

c. Provision of clear grounds for prior notification and review of changes in the evaluation and certification standards and gaps or vacancies in evaluation and certification services (Article 6 (7) and Article 6 (9) of the draft)

1) Although evaluation and certification are becoming increasingly important as they are linked with financial support and national examinations, Article 6 (7) of the Enforcement Decree currently stipulates that an certification agency shall notify within one week of issuing the decision to change the criteria, methods, and procedures of evaluation and certification or to suspend or abolish evaluation and certification services, which may have a significant impact on the subjects of evaluation and certification, thereby limiting their preemptive response to significant changes in the criteria or suspension or abolition of evaluation or certification services.

2) Therefore, the revision provides the grounds for an advance review by the Certification Agencies Review Committee of any significant changes in the evaluation or certification criteria. It also provides that certification agencies shall notify in advance if they plan to suspend or abolish their evaluation and certification services.

3) It is expected that the stability of the evaluation and certification systems will be improved by deploying a proactive system for responding to major changes that may have a significant impact on universities and other persons and entities.

d. Provision of a system for mandatory pre-notification in the event of changes to the evaluation and certification standards, procedures, and methods (Article 6 (8) of the draft)

1) Under the current system, there is no separate statutory basis for requiring advance notification of changes to the evaluation and certification standards. At present, only some certification agencies have implemented advance notice systems based on their own policies or regulations.

2) Therefore, the revision provides that schools subject to the evaluation and certification should be notified of any changes to the evaluation and certification standards, methods, or procedures, which should be finalized at least one year in advance.

3) It is expected that the predictability of evaluation and certification will be improved by allowing the schools subject to evaluation to know of and systematically prepare for changes in the evaluation and certification standards, methods, and procedures in advance.