Yes, that’s the obvious conclusion.
Probably some internal politics as well.
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Bordering on unreasonable, I’d say.
They sure should have done that. There is a response from Daniela there listing all those accomplishments that should have been promoted far and wide, yet we are only learning them now. That is very unfortunate and they should have been promoting themselves far and wide to attract more students and international recognition.
The main university has used the department for PR.
Have a look at that: Globalization key mission for Myongji University - The Korea Times
This is why I pointed out the buzzwords issue earlier. When even education becomes all fluff and fake promises, that’s a really sad time to be around. Globalisation by closing down one of the few departments that would attract international students? Really?
John Fairburn’s suggestion is imho the most valid. If internal politics is an issue, time to bring in some external politics on the table and see what’s up. The more important the people sending a letter, the better.
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Umm, I’m not sure what you mean by’while it’s in Korea’ South Korea is a famously Catholic country in the league of Ireland
Umm, I’m not sure what you mean by’South Korea is a famously Catholic country in the league of Ireland’ Religion in South Korea - Wikipedia
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Although perhaps that census was biased against Catholics
Ah of course, first spread fake information, then call the actual data “biased against Catholics”…
It should be remarked that South Korea has a far greater number of Christians than neighbouring countries, but it is nowhere close to Ireland.
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True as a percentage. Probably false as absolute values due to Ireland’s much smaller population.
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Good point.
I guess it still is nowhere close to Ireland, but in the other direction: approximately 14 million Christians in South Korea versus a little over 5 million in Ireland. 
I guess if we count only Catholicism, then it actually becomes close, since that’d be around 4 million in South Korea, and still around 5 million for Ireland.
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I guess this deviation from the point of the thread is y’all saying: “it’s gonna take a miracle!!!”
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I meant that it is not a place were the average person here would expect a “Christian values college”.
Even people with extra encyclopedic knowledge would struggle to recall the religious status of Korea and if called upon to make a guess, they wouldn’t imagine that Christianity would have taken such a firm root there.
There is nothing offensive in something not being common knowledge in a particular country. I had to look it up myself 
Pertinent to the topic though, I was focusing on that fact to point out that since it is based on those values, it is something that is closer to our understanding than we would normally expect from an organisation that is set in another country.
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Its a real shame that they’re closing down the department, i signed the petition but honestly i dont think it will do much good :<
Often these universities and other institutions do rely on public funding, which is then tied to to various meters like ‘number of applicants’, ’ percentage of enrolled students graduating on time’ and ‘employment status of freshly graduated students’ - its often cold hard excel spreadsheet dictating the future funding of any program, and usually its the “untraditional fields” which seem to do the worst when comparing the employment of graduated students.
I do hope they can save the department somehow, they’ve done so much good for go that it would be a pity to see them gone. Hopefully this petition does something.
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Baduk department and … philosophy department!
What a world. Let me sign for the second one too.
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Caring only if it’s right in front of your eyes itches me the wrong way, to be honest. It’s not about one person individually, but about something that may affect the Go community as a whole. In fact, it almost certainly will.
More to the point, some people may not even be aware that this Baduk Department had anything to do with them, even if it did. I have a tsumego book, which I’ve used to train a bit, and sure enough, it was translated by people from Myongji University. It may be such a small thing, but there they were, unbeknownst to me.
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A uni shuting weiqi and philosophy is clear in its project. It’s not about disfonction, and seems so according to the video.
It’s about denying pure “cultural” studies to give place for more “practical” ones.
It’s revolting to me but it’s the trend and the weiqi communauty through the last decades already suffered the loss of go centres established by Iwamoto K for example. Money, money… In China i heard that being 5d is no more a bonus to enter superior studies, and weiqi already some time ago almost disapeared from cctv.
Still barely a respectable activity for a little child and its brain.
Not sure that alphago popular success will reverse this trend and internet bring a lot of arguments for those proning you can just do it yourself.
Good news to me on the video is the first time i hear some weiqi uni in China created in 2018. I am curious if anyone has more infos.
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Yeonwoo is by now a seasoned internet video person, it looks weird that she glances off camera so much on this video (to read some script obviously, but still weird). Only in the end where she expresses some personal feelings does she look like her usual self.
I do hope the Go community learns from this and doesn’t go back to being aloof.
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I have hope exactly from the AlphaGo side, though; if AI gets better at doing our jobs we’ll all get more free time to do more cultural things. Nobody is interested in being a banker if you don’t earn anything because the computers are doing everything a tenfold more efficiently. But people will still engage in cultural activities even if it doesn’t sell, or if there’s others out there being better at it.
Like AlphaGo hasn’t made Go professionals redundant, the cultural studies will survive, while the practical ones will disappear.
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https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2022/12/113_341664.html
The list also includes the math, physics, chemistry and philosophy departments. They are to be replaced by new programs including Global Korean Language, Global Cultural Contents, Metaverse/Game Contents, Global Beauty Design and Global K-pop.
“The school said Baduk isn’t a proper program to teach at a four-year university,” Nam said. “The school first suggested that the program be moved to the Mind Sports Business Department in the School of Continuing Studies as a non-degree program for elderly students. We rejected the offer. The school didn’t yield and then said the program would then have to be closed.”
Myonji’s faculty will hold a meeting Friday to discuss the merger and planned shutdown of the targeted programs, including the Baduk Department.
At least the discouraging mood was upended by a flood of messages by Go supporters from outside the country who have spoken out against shutting down the Baduk Department.
Alexey Lazarev, vice president of the Russian Go Federation, said that the existence of the Baduk Department at Myongji “makes a very significant contribution to the development of Go in other countries, including the Russian Federation.”
Thomas Hsiang, secretary general of International Mind Sports Association and a professor emeritus at the University of Rochester, New York, sent a letter to Myongji President You Byong-jin on Dec. 4 urging the university not to close down the Baduk Department. “I urge you not to abandon this treasure…Nurture it, cultivate it; let it continue to be a pride of your university!”
Jang, the professor in Myongji’s Business Department directing the school’s planning affairs, declined to talk to The Korea Times regarding the merger and the plan to close the Baduk Department. He said that “nothing has been formally confirmed and there is nothing to discuss at this point.”
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I fail to see how your post of assorted quotes relates in any way to anything I said, but ok.
I clicked reply and then it didn’t let me change it.
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