Seoul residents oppose permanent school for North Korean defectors

Residents of Seoul’s Gangseo district are opposing plans to build a permanent facility for Yeomyung School, which serves North Korean defectors and their children. The dispute intensified at a community meeting on September 17, when the school’s principal, Cho Myung-sook, knelt and appealed to residents to accept the students. Residents also knelt, with some saying the community needed to be heard.

Yeomyung School provides middle- and high-school education to students who fled North Korea or were born to North Korean defectors. It has operated since 2004 but has been unable to afford a permanent building, renting facilities and relocating three times. The school has operated in the Yeomgang building in Gangseo since 2023.

Its lease is due to expire next February. In July, the Ministry of Unification, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and Hyundai Motor Group agreed to construct a new building at the site. Hyundai pledged about 6 billion won, or US$4.4 million, for the project.

Principal Cho said a permanent arrangement would allow the school to concentrate on education without worrying about relocation for at least 20 years. The school has 100 students, including 93 children born to North Korean defectors and seven born in North Korea. Supporters say alternative schools are needed because some students struggle with local curricula after limited access to education in the North.

Opponents say the site was intended for an early-childhood facility and that the school’s occupation was temporary. They also oppose plans for roughly 1,000 public housing units near Yeomchang Park, saying authorities have repeatedly overridden local objections. Residents argue that Gangseo already carries a disproportionate share of facilities that attract resistance.