People walk by the entrance of Kookmin University in Seoul, Jan. 7. Yonhap

Despite the government's tuition freeze policy, at least 13 universities in Korea have decided or are considering raising undergraduate tuition fees this year, citing financial strain, the government reported Sunday.

According to the Higher Education in Korea service, a government website that provides information on domestic universities, 19 out of 199 universities here, excluding online colleges, have posted the minutes of their committees' meetings on the issue of undergraduate tuition fees for 2025 as of Friday.

Among them, 12 have decided to raise tuition or are carefully considering whether to do so.

Kookmin University voted on a 4.9 percent increase on Jan. 2, while Hanshin University and Seoul Jangsin University also decided to raise tuition by 5.3 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively.

In addition, nine universities — Sungkyunkwan University, Sookmyung Women's University, Yonsei University, Kyung Hee University, Hongik University, Sangmyung University, Dongduk Women's University, Silla University and Kyungwoon University — expressed their opinions on tuition hikes at their committee meetings.

Sogang University also decided to raise tuition by 4.8 percent during a committee meeting on Dec. 26, according to the university.

As universities typically vote on tuition fees for the upcoming school year at the end of January, several others are believed to have already started considering tuition hikes.

A poster written by a Yonsei University student demanding the university withdraw its plan to raise tuition fees hangs at the school campus in Seoul, Jan. 8. Yonhap

The government has kept university tuitions frozen since 2009.

Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Lee Ju-ho sent a letter to university presidents across the country last month, asking them to freeze tuition fees this year to ease the financial burden on students.

In line with the policy trend, most universities have not raised tuition fees for over a decade. Government sanctions also played a part in this, as universities that hiked tuition were exempted from receiving support for type II state scholarships.

However, private universities have been refusing to comply with the freeze lately due to increasing financial difficulties.

According to the Korean Council for University Education, 19 universities in 2023 and 26 universities in 2024 raised tuition.

While smaller universities began forgoing government financial support in favor of tuition hikes last year, major private universities in Seoul are now joining the trend this year.

Meanwhile, the government continues asking universities to join its efforts to ease tuition burdens.

The Ministry of Education held a video conference, Jan. 8, with the presidential council of the national universities and repeated its call for a tuition freeze. In response, nine national universities decided on Jan. 10 not to hike tuition.