Will a Public High School Open in Heukseok-dong, Dongjak-gu?

Dongjak-gu and Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Sign MOU for the Establishment of Heukseok-dong High School

Mutual Cooperation Aiming for the Opening of a Public High School in Heukseok-dong in March 2026

Dongjak-gu (Mayor Park Ilha) announced on the 8th that it signed a business agreement with the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on the 7th to establish a high school in Heukseok-dong, Dongjak-gu.

Through this agreement, the two institutions agreed to cooperate in addressing obstacles arising during the project implementation with the shared goals of ▲opening Heukseok High School in March 2026 and ▲smooth school operation.

The main contents of this agreement include ▲cooperation for the prompt establishment of Heukseok High School ▲securing school land ▲construction of school facilities.

Notably, the agreement includes a provision that when establishing a new public school, the district office will donate both the school site and the construction costs of school facilities to the Office of Education.

Dongjak-gu has been promoting the establishment process of Heukseok-dong High School based on Article 25 of the Special Act on the Promotion of Urban Renewal since the designation of school land in the Heukseok New Town area in September 2008.

In particular, since 2020, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and Dongjak-gu have been pursuing the ‘relocation’ of a public high school located in Gwanak-gu, but in October 2022, the relocation was canceled (put on hold) due to a re-survey of parents of the target school conducted by the Office of Education.

However, following the revision of the Local Education Administrative Agency Financial Investment Project Review Regulations by the Ministry of Education, which expanded the reasons for exemption from central investment review, the Office of Education officially informed Dongjak-gu in March that ‘establishing a new school is also possible,’ contrary to previous policy.

Accordingly, Dongjak-gu reconsidered its policy direction and conducted a resident survey on the ‘Plan for Establishing Heukseok-dong High School’ to fulfill residents’ right to know and gather diverse opinions.

As 80.3% of respondents supported the establishment of a public school in the survey, the district office finalized its policy direction to ‘establish’ a new public high school.

Park Ilha, Mayor of Dongjak-gu, said, “Since residents want the prompt establishment of Heukseok-dong High School, we will work closely with the Office of Education to ensure the school opens in March 2026.”

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