Construction of school for students with disabilities delayed amid local opposition
Published: 29 Aug. 2025, 13:14
![Members of the Seoul chapter of the Korean Parents’ Network for People with Disabilities hold a press conference in front of the Seoul Metropolitan Council in central Seoul on Aug. 27 to demand the establishment of the Seongjin School. During the event, some participants knelt as they pleaded, “Please save our children and families.” [JUN YUL]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/08/29/40870d4a-540e-4fb2-ad84-6c2732dbb2cf.jpg)
Members of the Seoul chapter of the Korean Parents’ Network for People with Disabilities hold a press conference in front of the Seoul Metropolitan Council in central Seoul on Aug. 27 to demand the establishment of the Seongjin School. During the event, some participants knelt as they pleaded, “Please save our children and families.” [JUN YUL]
As a student, Pyeon Kyeong-su, who has developmental disabilities, spent eight years from 2013 commuting three hours round-trip by bus to attend school. Because there was no special school in his neighborhood of Jungnang District, eastern Seoul, he had to take a bus at 7:30 a.m. every day to a school in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul.
“We had to wake him up at 6 a.m. to get him ready,” said his mother, Yoo In-sook. “There was no school nearby, so we were grateful just to have one he could attend — even if it was far.”
Jungnang District had originally planned to open the Dongjin School, a special school for students with disabilities, in 2017. But construction was delayed for more than a decade as the planned site was relocated eight times due to opposition from local residents. Construction finally began this year — after Pyeon had already graduated.
A similar battle is now unfolding over the proposed establishment of the tentatively named Seongjin School, a public school for students with physical disabilities planned in Seongdong District, eastern Seoul.
The school project has already cleared all necessary reviews by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. It is awaiting final approval from the Seoul Metropolitan Council, including an initial vote by the Education Committee on Sept. 9 and a plenary vote on Aug. 12.
But some local residents and district lawmakers have launched a last-minute campaign to halt the project, raising fears that the school could be delayed or canceled.
![Members of the Seoul chapter of the Korean Parents’ Network for People with Disabilities hold a press conference on Aug. 27 urging the Seoul Metropolitan Council to immediately approve the Seongjin School project and calling on opposing lawmakers to stop obstructing its progress. [NEWS1]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/08/29/c52be7bc-e836-4bb2-b4ba-aaaa18b9d2a7.jpg)
Members of the Seoul chapter of the Korean Parents’ Network for People with Disabilities hold a press conference on Aug. 27 urging the Seoul Metropolitan Council to immediately approve the Seongjin School project and calling on opposing lawmakers to stop obstructing its progress. [NEWS1]
Currently, only seven of Seoul’s 25 districts have public special schools for students with physical disabilities. In the city’s northeastern region, the Jeongmin School in Nowon District is the only one. This forces students in Seongdong, Dongdaemun, Gwangjin, Jungnang, Seongbuk and Gangbuk districts to travel long distances.
To address the imbalance, the Seoul education office proposed establishing a 22-classroom special school for physically disabled students on the site of the now-defunct Seongsu Technical High School in Seongdong District, with the goal of opening by March 2029.
But local opposition began to mount earlier this year, fueled in part by concerns that the school could depress property values. At a community briefing on June 21 hosted by the Seoul education office, some residents demanded that a general high school be built instead.
“Students with disabilities are members of our society and should be included,” said Hwang Cheol-kyu, vice chair of the council’s Education Committee, at the meeting. But he also urged the city to relocate Seongjin School to a nearby site occupied by Deoksoo High School and use the current site to build a “better school” for local residents.
![Seoul Education Superintendent Jung Keun-sik speaks after hearing complaints from parents at a press conference near the Seoul Metropolitan Council in central Seoul on Aug. 27, where advocates called for the establishment of a special school. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/08/29/ae1ab699-71d7-4432-9143-3e910c40c6ba.jpg)
Seoul Education Superintendent Jung Keun-sik speaks after hearing complaints from parents at a press conference near the Seoul Metropolitan Council in central Seoul on Aug. 27, where advocates called for the establishment of a special school. [YONHAP]
Disability advocacy groups argue that repeatedly pushing back special school projects due to community resistance has left students without access to local schools. The Dongjin School, for example, had to relocate eight times over 12 years due to similar opposition.
“Students with disabilities who longed to attend a nearby special school ended up graduating after commuting long distances,” one parent said.
Some 150 members of disability rights groups — including the Seoul chapter of the Korean Parents' Network for People with Disabilities and the National Association of Parents for Inclusive Education — held a press conference outside the Seoul Metropolitan Council to demand approval for the Seongjin School on Wednesday.
“For 12 years, I’ve had to accompany my child to a school outside the district because there’s no school here,” said Kwon Suk, a mother living in Seongdong District with her disabled child. “You can’t imagine what it’s like to wake up a child who can’t take a single step on their own and put them in a car for three to four hours every day.”
“This isn’t just about education,” she added. “It’s about survival. Please build this school — for us and for our children.” Kwon then fell to her knees in front of the council.
Seoul Education Superintendent Jung Keun-sik visited the rally and pledged to “make every effort to ensure the Seongjin School is established as planned.”
Later that day at 3:30 p.m., the advocacy groups met with Seoul Metropolitan Council Chairwoman Choi Ho-jung, but were reportedly not given a clear answer on whether the school would be approved.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JUN YUL [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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