The Education Ministry said Tuesday it would launch its first state-run platform for Korean massive open online courses, dubbed K-MOOC, by the second half of this year.

It is proposed to develop 20 pilot lectures within this year and gradually increase the number to 500 by 2018, according to the plan unveiled in Tuesday’s weekly Cabinet meeting. The ministry will also use existing lectures provided by Korea Open Course Ware, an e-learning service that provides video lectures and reference materials for higher education that was launched in 2007.

As of December, 9,628 classes are provided by 183 colleges and universities across the country.

The government will be in charge of creating the platform, but individual colleges will maintain the respective courses they provide. People who complete the courses can receive certification.

A majority of Korea’s top-tier colleges have shown interest in the 2.2 billion won ($2 million) project, according to a ministry official.

The government has yet to finalize a plan to actually grant degrees or college credits for K-MOOC lectures.

“The credibility of online learning still needs public approval, so accreditation of courses acquired (via K-MOOC) is something we have to review in the long term,” the official said. But students can still receive credits if a college running online courses incorporates suitable measures, for example by also letting them take offline courses or tests.

The ministry hopes that the K-MOOC system will impact the overall tertiary education system in Korea and ultimately enhance its global competence.

The concept of MOOCs, which aim at unlimited participation and open access to online courses, was introduced in 2008 and gained worldwide popularity in 2012. Many world-renowned higher education institutes including Harvard University and Massachusetts Institution of Technology provide the open online courses.

Compared with traditional modes of education, MOOC has a distinct advantage of being highly accessible for people of virtually all age groups and professions.

Simon Nelson, the chief executive officer of U.K.-based MOOC platform FutureLearn, believes learning will no longer be perceived just for post-graduates and occasional training courses at work.

“I think we all have to face a world where we need to retrain several times in our lives, and move into new areas,” he said.

By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)