Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol said Monday that computer programming should be dealt with as a school subject that's more important than mathematics, English and Korean in order to meet a need for digital-savvy human resources.

"I think it will only be possible to supply ample digital-savvy human capital to the market by allotting a greater weight to coding than those to the subjects of the Korean language, mathematics and English in evaluation for school admissions," Yoon of the main opposition People Power Party said in a lecture event in Incheon, 40 kilometers west of Seoul, earlier in the day.

"If I become in charge of the next government, I will without fail draw up a blueprint for a sweeping educational reform covering the next 50 or 100 years before retiring," the presidential candidate said.

His remarks indicate computer programming may be added to the school curriculum and adopted as a subject on the national college admission test if he is elected president.

"It is difficult to maintain national competitiveness if the education system is not completely reformed," he noted. (Yonhap)