Choi Kyo-jin: "About 250 Provisionally Identified for Relief After Early-Admission System Outage... Difficult to Assist Without Records"

[Financial News]  Education Minister Choi Kyo-jin said on the 16th that about 250 of approximately 1,200 relief applications related to the 2027 college admissions early-admission application-system outage had been provisionally identified as eligible for relief. However, he said applicants would currently be difficult to assist if they had attempted to access the system during the outage but left no electronic records of drafting or saving an application.
At a plenary meeting of the National Assembly Education Committee that day, Choi said, "About 1,200 relief applications had been received by 10 a.m., and approximately 250 of them are provisionally considered eligible for relief."
The Ministry of Education is determining whether applicants actually suffered harm based on records remaining in the system. Applicants may qualify for relief if records show that they logged in during the outage and drafted, saved or submitted an application, or attempted to pay the application fee.
The problem arises when applicants attempted to access the system immediately after the outage began but no related records remain.
When Rep. Kim Moon-soo asked about measures to assist such applicants, Choi said, "A record will remain if they completed any one of the four steps—drafting, saving, submitting or paying—when we look for it." He added, "If there is no such record, we currently believe there is no way to provide relief."
Rep. Kim noted that it takes about three minutes to complete and pay for an application. He argued that applicants who tried to access the system immediately after 5:50 p.m. on the 11th, when the outage began, could have submitted their applications before the 6 p.m. deadline if the system had been operating normally. For example, applicants who attempted to connect between 5:51 and 5:55 p.m. but could not reach the application-drafting stage because of the outage may have suffered harm without having electronic records to prove it.
Earlier, at around 5:50 p.m. on the 11th, the deadline for early-admission applications, an outage occurred in the system operated by application-processing agency UWAYAPPLY, preventing some applicants from completing their applications and payments normally.
The Ministry of Education is accepting relief applications from affected students. Applications close at 6 p.m. on the 16th, after which the ministry will review electronic records and other information to determine the final number of applicants eligible for relief.


[email protected] Lee Bo-mi Reporter