President Yoon Suk-yeol speaks during a joint policy briefing by the culture and education ministries at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Jan. 5. Yonhap

President Yoon Suk-yeol called Thursday for increasing diversity in education, saying the standardized educational programs of the past no longer serve the nation.

Yoon made the remark during a joint New Year's policy briefing by the education and culture ministries while discussing one of his administration's top three reform projects along with pensions and labor.

"I believe education is difficult if it is simply about standardized systems that employ standardized contents or a particular standardized type of school, even if the state or the government takes the lead and provides support," he said during the meeting held at the former presidential compound of Cheong Wa Dae.

"If we want to respect freedom and creativity, and raise our society's growth potential and competitiveness through education, the most important thing is educational diversity," he added.

Yoon compared education to a type of service offered by markets, saying a competitive market structure is needed to ensure reasonable prices and goods that satisfy consumers.

"If we stick to the unilateral, state-monopoly type of educational programs that we used back when we needed to solve the people's illiteracy and provide basic education, so that we could turn them into industrial warriors and recruit them into the military, I don't think that kind of education will survive now in a society witnessing the fourth industrial revolution," he said.

Referring to the culture ministry, Yoon discussed the importance of K-contents not only as its own industry but as a tool to enhance Korea's image.

"This is something that has an intuitive impact on all other industries, including infrastructure and arms, by improving the Republic of Korea's image," he said. "So it's important to not only export K-contents, but from now on, I expect the contents industry to become the most important area in strengthening our capabilities and increasing our export power." (Yonhap)