Private university tuitions, which were W4.47 million a year in 2000, have risen an average 6 percent each year and soared to W6.47 million last year. That's twice the 3 percent annual rise in inflation. Many students take time off from school or find part-time jobs to make tuition payments, while some even think about turning to loan sharks.

In stages starting in 2011, the government plans to offer financial assistance to all university students coming from families living in poverty. But only 74,000, or 2.3 percent of all university students, stand to benefit from this policy. Banks charge 7 percent interest on tuition loans, which is double the 3 to 4 percent interest charged on mortgage loans made to rural families and loans made to the poor to help them maintain their livelihood.

There are many countries that offer the deferred payment scheme that President Lee mentioned. In Britain, Australia and New Zealand the government pays the tuition, while students can repay the loan after they reach a certain income level after graduation.

Tuition fees account for between 40 to 50 percent of the annual budgets of state-run universities in Korea, and at private universities the figure is between 65 to 80 percent. Universities say government funding has focused on elementary, middle and high schools, while allocations of portions of the national budget to universities have declined every year. In reality, the portion of the national budget the government allocates to education amounts to 5 percent of the country's GDP, but just 0.6 percent of this goes to universities.

A crucial measure under these circumstances is admissions based on financial contributions. Students admitted this way are chosen aside from regular students, so they do not affect the admissions procedures involving regular students. And the money raised through such contributions can benefit more students by being used to offer scholarships. Yet the subject of admissions based on contributions remains taboo since critics say the measure would make the less wealthy feel left out of society.

At the root of the university tuition problem is the fact that there are too many universities in Korea that are not up to caliber. Yet there is little that the government can do about this situation in a country where 3 million out of a population of 49 million are university students. We need to lower the number of universities in the country and change the education system as well as social perceptions, so that employment and promotions are determined by abilities and achievements rather than the alma mater of employees.