students to train on board vessels, extra cost of renovating vessels to accommodate female maritime specialists, and reluctance of women to pursue maritime career considering unique working conditions. The school’s final answer was that it would need to discuss with the government for budget increase necessary to accommodate female students if it becomes necessary to admit them. It is true that the career of maritime specialist has been dominated by men, but the industry’s claim of reluctance to hire women and assuming that female students wouldn’t be comfortable training and learning on board vessels with mostly male counterparts was nothing but a gender stereotype and does not justify prohibiting female students’ right to access the education, the Commission concluded. The case of the Korea Maritime University’s decision to open its doors to women despite facing similar grounds proposed by the Maritime High School is clear evidence that the grounds were not reasonable. It was especially discriminatory for the school to deny admission of women, because the opportunity for maritime education was already scarce. The Commission also reviewed the regulation that requires graduates of the Maritime High School to serve a minimum of 3 years in maritime-related field. Male students have the benefit of taking advantage of On-Board Reserve Force program of the Ministry of Defense, allowing them to meet the graduation requirement as well as mandatory military service requirement. Since female students do not have the military service duty, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs should consider expanding scope of 3-year service requirement to include maritime-related positions at other government organizations such as the Coast Guard, maritime-related agencies, and local governments. The Commission’s final recommendation to the principal of the Maritime High School was to revise the application criteria to no longer prohibit application of female students. It also recommended the Minister of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs to provide financial support to the school for facility renovation and improve regulations to accommodate female students. 110 Part II. Major Activities of the Commission