6 Korean universities break into Asia top 30 in THE rankings, but int'l outlook drags

“Six Korean universities placed in the top 30 of the Times Higher Education (THE) Asia Rankings 2026, buoyed by strong gains in the newly introduced industry index, but persistent weakness in international outlook left them struggling to close the gap with regional leaders from China, Singapore and Hong Kong. Seoul National University ranked 15th, the highest among Korean institutions, followed by Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) at 17th, Yonsei University at 19th, Sungkyunkwan University at 20th, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) at 25th and Korea University at 26th. This year’s results reflect the impact of revised evaluation metrics. The changes follow the introduction of a new methodology first applied in the World University Rankings 2024. A notable change was the strengthened industry metric, with the addition of a patents indicator boosting universities with strong technological capabilities — particularly in Korea. Seoul National University, KAIST, Yonsei University and POSTECH each secured a perfect score of 100 in the category. H

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