South Korea closes 4,000 schools permanently amid demographic crisis
With student counts half of 1980 levels, South Korea confronts a crisis of empty classrooms and abandoned sites, raising worry over wasted assets
According to the Ministry of Education’s latest figures, revealed on Sunday by Representative Jin Sun-mee of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, 4,008 schools under 17 regional education offices nationwide have closed so far as student numbers continue to decline.
Junior schools account for most closures, with 3,674 shut down permanently, compared with 264 middle schools and 70 high schools. Over the past five years alone, 158 schools have closed, and an additional 107 schools are projected to shut down over the next five years.
The pace of closures also suggests that enrolment decline is expected to accelerate in provincial regions rather than in the capital area.
The largest number of school closures is in North Jeolla province, which has 16 schools affected. This is followed by South Jeolla province with 15 closures, Gyeonggi province with 12, and South Chungcheong province with 11 schools closing.