The aim of the paper is to critically examine the practices of teaching and learning for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the context of higher education institutions (HEIs) in South Korea (Korea). With the use of a case study, this paper offers a close examination of the practices carried out at Seoul National University and Kyung Hee University in Korea, focusing on how the SDGs are embedded in teaching and learning for sustainable development and identifying barriers and challenges in the process. A few specific initiatives and curriculum developments to meet the SDGs have been identified, but their rhetorical visions and practices of teaching and learning contradict, resulting in little actual transformation. This study reveals the gap between the rhetoric and the reality of teaching and learning for the SDGs from the perspective of transformative learning and offers policy suggestions to provide a well-rooted practice of educating the SDGs in Korean HEIs.