Historic Seoul School for Adult Learners Faces Closure

Seoul Ilseong Middle and High School is a place of learning for adult students with an average age of 69.

Every day at 2:00 PM, afternoon classes for these late-blooming students begin.

[Do you have breakfast?]

Whether they are cleaners who have just finished their morning shifts or grandmothers who take care of their grandchildren, they are all students fully immersed in the joy of learning at this moment.

[Ko Yeon-hee / 2nd-year student at Ilseong High School, 65: There is a saying that the world looks as much as you know. My self-esteem, which used to be low, has been restored, and I am living my life with confidence.]

Starting as a night school in 1953, Ilseong Middle and High School is the first accredited lifelong education facility in Korea, having produced over 60,000 graduates over the past 74 years.

For those who have lived their entire lives for others due to war, poverty, and the limitations placed on women, this classroom is a space where they can finally fulfill their long-held dreams.

[Hong Myeong-soo / 2nd-year student at Ilseong Middle School, 64: I had an older brother above me and a younger brother below. In the old days, people prioritized educating their sons. I was determined to send my three children to four-year universities, and I succeeded in getting them all married off. I thought about what I wanted to do for myself, and it was studying.]

Following the passing of the school's founder, Principal Lee Sun-jae, last month, the school now faces the threat of closure in February 2028.

Under current law, if a lifelong education facility established by an individual loses its founder, the right to operate cannot be inherited. To maintain the school, the bereaved family must establish a public interest foundation, but the significant financial requirements and licensing procedures serve as major barriers.

Due to these legal limitations, there are 10 such accredited lifelong education facilities in the Seoul metropolitan area currently facing the risk of closure.

[Jo Hyun-bun / Teacher at Ilseong High School, 26 years of service: They have such bright, eager eyes, trying to absorb even one more thing. It is heartbreaking that the school might close when there are so many students who want to learn.]

The 950 students and faculty members recently filed a national petition, calling for alternatives such as entrusting the school's operation to a public interest foundation rather than facing unilateral closure.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education also stated that it plans to consult with the Ministry of Justice to pursue amendments to the Public Interest Corporation Act.

School Faces Closure After Principal's Death… Adult Learners Plead for Help (June 22, 2026, 8 O'Clock News)

Reported by Je Hee-won | Written by Kim Da-yeon | Video by Kang Si-woo | Video Editing by Park Na-young | Design by Seo Seung-hyun and Lee So-jeong | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.