For years, debate about the future of Korean higher education has been dominated by demography. The concern is justified. The number of Koreans of university-entrance age is projected to fall from 460,000 in 2020 to about 280,000 by 2040, a decline of almost 40 percent, according to the Korean Council for University Education. Regional universities, many of them dependent on tuition income, are already confronting the consequences. But demography alone will not decide which universities survive. It will expose which institutions can still persuade students, employers, governments and communities that they provide value worth sustaining. Korea’s unavoidable demographic contraction is therefore also a test of relevance. That distinction matters. A university cannot reverse the country’s birth rate. It can decide whether its graduates acquire useful capabilities, whether its research addresses problems in which Korea can make a distinctive contribution and whether it creates demonstrable value for the region around it. These should be the three tests of relevance. The choices may be un