"Students Must Wear Only White Underwear" Seoul Schools to Remove 'Underwear Regulation' by Year-End

31 Middle and High Schools with Underwear Regulations to Revise by Year-End
6 Schools Revised by End of July... 25 Schools by Year-End
Second Consultation Conducted for 21 Coeducational Middle and High Schools

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education has conducted consultations with girls' middle and high schools in Seoul that have regulations related to underwear and has decided to abolish these regulations by the end of the year.

On the 23rd, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced that as a result of consulting 31 schools with dress code regulations concerning underwear, socks, and the like, six schools had abolished or revised their color regulations for underwear and socks as of the end of July. The remaining 25 schools are expected to complete the revision or abolition of related regulations by the end of the year.

Since June, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education has been conducting consultations to correct excessive dress code regulations regarding underwear, socks, and stockings colors in girls' middle and high schools.

Since the 16th, a second round of consultations has also been underway. The second consultation targets 21 coeducational middle and high schools that require consultation based on the review of student life regulations. Human rights investigators from the main office and education support office supervisors visit schools to encourage correction of excessive underwear regulations and to inspect dress code rules.

The second special consultation will be completed by September, and after the consultations, monitoring will be conducted. Schools that have not made corrections will be subject to compulsory enforcement through official investigations.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education is promoting revisions to underwear regulations this year, following the liberalization of hairstyles in 2018 and the public discussion on comfortable school uniforms in 2019. The policy aims to support the expansion of students' rights to self-determination and the realization of individuality.

Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, stated, "As psychologist Jung said, the highest form of individuality is 'personality.' When a person's right to realize their individuality is denied, it results in damage to their personality and leads to helplessness. Just as we have brought about changes such as hairstyle freedom, comfortable school uniforms, and correction of underwear regulations, we will continue to improve human rights violations in school rules so that our students can freely express their individuality and grow into dignified individuals."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.