Korea University is effectively extending its startup leave policy to an unlimited duration. The policy change allows students to extend their leave annually through a review process beyond the initial three-year period, aiming to support student entrepreneurship amid a freezing venture capital market.
According to a Seoul Economic Daily report on Thursday, Korea University recently revised its startup leave operating principles. The revised policy allows unlimited one-year extensions after students exhaust the initial three-year allowance. A Korea University official explained that "there is no separate regulation in the university rules limiting the final end date, so if requirements are met, extensions are practically possible indefinitely."
However, the university has established separate extension requirements to prevent abuse of the system. Students must exhaust all general leave periods and the basic three-year startup leave allowance, and obtain a recommendation from their department head. Additionally, students are required to submit business performance reports, financial statements, and employment status at each extension review, blocking the use of startup leave as a simple means of maintaining student status.
A trend of extending startup leave periods is spreading across Korean universities. The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) abolished leave period limits entirely in 2021 to support diverse student experiences. Seoul National University also recently expanded its startup leave period from two years to three years. This follows an increase from one year to two years in 2023, marking the second policy revision in two years.
Analysts suggest that the weakened startup investment environment is behind major universities' successive expansions of startup leave policies. With domestic entrepreneurial momentum cooling due to the economic slowdown and high interest rates, universities feel a sense of urgency to serve as incubators for innovative companies based on technology and talent.
Startup indicators are indeed declining. According to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the number of domestic startups totaled 1,135,561 last year. This represents a 23.5 percent decrease compared to 1,484,667 in 2020. As the number of domestic startups has steadily decreased over the past five years, universities are lowering barriers to startup leave to defend the student entrepreneurship ecosystem.