KOCW, South Korea’s free university lecture platform, is scheduled to close completely on December 30 after operating since 2009. The Korea Education and Research Information Service cited overlapping functions with similar services, declining use and difficulty securing operating funds, while new course enrollment ended in September. The closure would also end public access to searches and viewing of existing lectures, including about 5,000 courses released by roughly 40 universities in Gyeonggi Province.

Users are opposing the decision through a petition and lecture preservation efforts, while experts say the government should arrange transfers so university materials remain available beyond campus boundaries.