Park Won-soon
The University of Seoul was founded as Gyeongseong Public Agricultural College in 1918 and renamed the University of Seoul in 1997. In 2012, the mayor of Seoul, Park Won-soon, implemented a campaign promise, "Half-priced tuition" as soon as he started his term. The half-priced tuition was initiated in UOS first so that it would drive other universities to decrease their tuition. In 2013, UOS tuition per semester ranged from $915 to $1,441 (two semesters a year, 1,117.3 won/$ in 2013). Because of high quality of education and low tuition of UOS, admission process has been more competitive.