This article provides an explanation for why the Critical Thinking (CT) movement has failed to make significant inroads into the Korean education system, notwithstanding the fact that it addresses and seeks to rectify a widely acknowledged weakness of that system, namely, its over-reliance on teacher-centered instructional methodologies involving rote-memorization. The explanation provided in this article goes beyond standard accounts that focus primarily or exclusively on the role of the university entrance exam in the Korean education system. The explanation offered here identifies the core values implicit in CT pedagogy and shows how those values clash with important features of Korean culture. (Contains 1 note.)