On April 30th, news broke that a university in the Seoul area of South Korea has decided to halt admissions for two foreign language majors, sparking widespread attention.
The private institution, known as Duksung Women's University, boasts a history of over a hundred years. The university recently announced that it will cease admitting students to the French and German language majors starting next year, signaling the formal initiation of the discontinuation process for these majors.
Analysts point out that with the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence technology, the demand for language professionals in society is decreasing, particularly impacting foreign language majors directly.
In recent years, South Korean universities have been witnessing a trend of canceling language majors or merging them with other disciplines. For instance, last year, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies suspended admissions for new students in 13 majors including English and Japanese at its regional campuses.
Furthermore, Pusan National University has stopped admissions for its German and French language education majors this year, while another university in Seoul has merged its Chinese and Japanese departments into the Aviation and Tourism Foreign Language Department.
Data reveals that the number of language majors in South Korea's four-year universities has decreased by one-fifth over the past five years, with a simultaneous 18% drop in the number of students enrolling in language majors during the same period.
