Song Ja (born 1936) is a South Korean politician and academic. He has served as chancellor of

Yonsei University Yonsei University (; ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea. As a member of the "SKY" universities, Yonsei University is deemed one of the three most prestigious institutions in the country. It is particularly respected in the ...

and

Myongji University Myongji University () is a private, Christian university founded in 1948 in South Korea. It provides higher education in the fields of engineering, sciences and humanities. It has two campuses: the Social Science Campus is located in Seoul and th ...

, and as Minister of Education.

Career

Song was named a professor of business management at

in 1977. He was elevated to the position of twelfth chancellor of Yonsei University in August 1992. In November 1994, Yang Dong-kwan of the Seoul Western District Court ruled that his nomination to the chancellorship had been invalid because he formally had not yet applied for restoration of

South Korean citizenship South Korean nationality law details the conditions in which an individual is a national of the Republic of Korea (ROK), commonly known as South Korea. Foreign nationals may naturalize after living in the country for at least five years and s ...

at the time, and so was legally stateless. Song had naturalised as a U.S. citizen in 1978, but gave up U.S. citizenship in 1984. However, an appeal court ruled in May 1995 that his lack of citizenship was not sufficient reason to invalidate his nomination. In January 1997, Song announced that he was resigning from his professorship at Yonsei University. In June 1997, Song was appointed chancellor of

, also in Seoul. He became Minister of Education in 2000 during the presidency of

Kim Dae-jung Kim Dae-jung (; ; 6 January 192418 August 2009), was a South Korea, South Korean politician and activist who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003. He was a 2000 Nobel Peace Prize recipient for his work for democra ...

. He was the third former Myongji University chancellor to receive a cabinet position in the past decade.

Personal life

Song was born in 1936 in

Daejeon Daejeon () is South Korea's fifth-largest metropolis, with a population of 1.5 million as of 2019. Located in the central-west region of South Korea alongside forested hills and the Geum River, the city is known both for its technology and ...

. His family is part of the

Eunjin Eunjin is a ''myeon'', or rural district, of Nonsan, South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitari ...

Song ''

bon-gwan Bon-gwan (or Bongwan) is the concept of clan in Korea, which is used to distinguish clans that happen to share the same family name (clan name). Since Korea has been traditionally a Confucian country, this clan system is similar to ancient Chinese ...

''. He graduated from Yonsei University in 1960 and received a scholarship from the U.S. to study at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

. He obtained U.S. permanent residence through

adjustment of status Adjustment may refer to: *Adjustment (law), with several meanings *Adjustment (psychology), the process of balancing conflicting needs *Adjustment of observations, in mathematics, a method of solving an overdetermined system of equations *Calibra ...

in 1970. He is married and has two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Song, Ja 1936 births Living people Song clan of Eunjin Myongji University faculty People from Daejeon Former United States citizens Presidents of universities and colleges in South Korea South Korean politicians Washington University in St. Louis alumni Yonsei University alumni Yonsei University faculty Education ministers of South Korea