Bearing this in mind, this paper purports to examine the major challenges of higher education and recent policy responses to address those challenges in Korea. The paper will first highlight the important trends of higher education, giving particular attention to quality and internationalization dimensions of IHEs, as they stand out as the most imminent issues of higher education in Korea. This will be followed by a critical review of recent policy initiatives for higher education reform. The paper will conclude with some policy suggestions for future actions.