Join WAC
University Directory · East Asia & Pacific

Top 25 universities in South Korea

The 25 leading universities and higher education institutions in South Korea, ordered by the citations their research has received. Part of the WAC University Directory.

25 institutions listed · data October 2026

See the listAdd or correct a listing
  1. 1

    Seoul National University (SNU)

    Seoul, South Korea

    • 278,609 research works
    • 26.4 million citations
    • h-index 1,049
  2. 2

    Yonsei University

    Seoul, South Korea

    • 182,039 research works
    • 14.5 million citations
    • h-index 777
  3. 3

    Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU)

    Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea

    • 131,075 research works
    • 12.5 million citations
    • h-index 786
  4. 4

    Korea University

    Seoul, South Korea

    • 131,382 research works
    • 10.4 million citations
    • h-index 682
  5. 5

    Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)

    Daejeon, South Korea

    • 118,061 research works
    • 9.6 million citations
    • h-index 703
    In WAC News: KAIST sets out vision for new College of AI with four departments and 300 students
  6. 6

    University of Ulsan (UOU)

    Ulsan, South Korea

    • 67,199 research works
    • 6.3 million citations
    • h-index 564
  7. 7

    Hanyang University

    Seoul, South Korea

    • 95,687 research works
    • 6.1 million citations
    • h-index 546
  8. 8

    Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH)

    Pohang, South Korea

    • 55,011 research works
    • 6 million citations
    • h-index 592
  9. 9

    Kyungpook National University (KNU)

    Daegu, South Korea

    • 77,777 research works
    • 5.8 million citations
    • h-index 517
  10. 10

    Kyung Hee University

    Seoul, South Korea

    • 80,149 research works
    • 5.2 million citations
    • h-index 466
  11. 11

    Pusan National University (PNU)

    Busan, South Korea

    • 73,981 research works
    • 4.5 million citations
    • h-index 453
  12. 12

    Chonnam National University (CNU)

    Gwangju, South Korea

    • 60,070 research works
    • 4.2 million citations
    • h-index 437
  13. 13

    Catholic University of Korea

    Seoul, South Korea

    • 59,153 research works
    • 3.8 million citations
    • h-index 375
  14. 14

    Jeonbuk National University (CBNU)

    Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do, South Korea

    • 50,267 research works
    • 3.2 million citations
    • h-index 383
  15. 15

    Ewha Womans University

    Seoul, South Korea

    • 46,393 research works
    • 3.2 million citations
    • h-index 488
  16. 16

    Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST)

    Ulsan, South Korea

    • 23,593 research works
    • 2.9 million citations
    • h-index 545
  17. 17

    Konkuk University

    Seoul, South Korea

    • 43,938 research works
    • 2.9 million citations
    • h-index 383
  18. 18

    Chungnam National University (CNU)

    Daejeon, South Korea

    • 57,931 research works
    • 2.8 million citations
    • h-index 349
  19. 19

    Inha University

    Incheon, South Korea

    • 48,634 research works
    • 2.6 million citations
    • h-index 367
  20. 20

    Gyeongsang National University (GNU)

    Jinju-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea

    • 37,669 research works
    • 2.4 million citations
    • h-index 338
  21. 21

    Chung-Ang University (CAU)

    Seoul, South Korea

    • 49,509 research works
    • 2.3 million citations
    • h-index 326
  22. 22

    Ajou University

    Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea

    • 43,517 research works
    • 2.3 million citations
    • h-index 333
  23. 23

    Yeungnam University (YU)

    Daegu, South Korea

    • 43,007 research works
    • 2.3 million citations
    • h-index 346
  24. 24

    Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST)

    Gwangju, South Korea

    • 24,913 research works
    • 2.1 million citations
    • h-index 383
  25. 25

    Kangwon National University (KNU)

    Chuncheon, South Korea

    • 37,319 research works
    • 1.9 million citations
    • h-index 325

Ordered by total research citations recorded in OpenAlex (October 2026). Works, citations and h-index are OpenAlex figures for the institution. How the list is made.

More countries in East Asia & Pacific

Is your university a WAC member?

Member institutions get a featured listing with a profile and contacts, a member badge, announcements in WAC News, framework toolkits from the four centres and member places in WAC sessions.

See membership
Universities and colleges

Add or correct a listing

Universities, colleges and higher education institutions can ask to be added to the directory, or send a correction to their listing. We check every request against the institution’s own website.

Institutions that join WAC get a featured listing with a profile, programmes and contacts, a member badge, news announcements in WAC News and access to the four centres. See membership.

We use these details to review your request and reply to you. See the Privacy Policy.

About the directory

How institutions are chosen and ordered

The directory lists 1436 universities, colleges and higher education institutions in 199 countries and territories. In countries with 200 or more higher education institutions recorded in OpenAlex it lists the top 25; everywhere else, the top 5.

Institutions are ordered by the total number of citations their research has received, as recorded in OpenAlex, the open catalogue of the world’s research, with data taken in October 2026. This is a transparent, research-based order: it favours large research institutions and does not measure teaching quality, student experience or graduate outcomes. University systems are left out in favour of their campuses, and faculties or institutes are left out when their parent university is already listed. Names, cities and websites come from OpenAlex and the Research Organization Registry (ROR).

Being listed is not an endorsement, and listings are not paid for. Spotted a mistake? Send a correction.