Dunchon Jugong Complex Middle School Faces Cancellation Risk... Gangdong-gu Requests Delay in Land Use Change Decision Until School-Age Population Is Assessed

"Education Office Urged to Quickly Decide on Middle School Establishment"
Union Also Opposes... Conflict Ahead of November Move-In This Year

Dunchon Jugong Reconstruction Project Site.

Regarding the possible cancellation of the new middle school within the 'Olympic Park Foreon (formerly Dunchon Jugong)' complex in Dunchon-dong, Gangdong-gu, Seoul, scheduled for occupancy this November, Gangdong-gu has urged Seoul City to reconsider converting the site into a public open space.

On the 5th, Gangdong-gu stated in a press release, “To ensure students' right to education, Seoul City should reconsider the conversion to a public open space, and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education should promptly decide on the establishment of the middle school.”

Dunchon Jugong, considered the largest reconstruction complex since the founding of Korea with 12,032 households moving in, is facing a situation where the planned new middle school within the complex may be canceled due to a decline in the school-age population, and the site may be converted into a public open space.

In response to this news, the reconstruction association and prospective residents are strongly opposing and demanding Seoul City to “withdraw the plan to change the school site in the Dunchon Jugong reconstruction complex to a public open space.”

Regarding this, Gangdong-gu said, “We earnestly request the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education to promptly decide on the establishment of the middle school within the Dunchon Jugong complex, and Seoul City to reconsider the promotion of converting the school site into a public open space until occupancy is completed, the school-age population is accurately assessed, students are distributed to surrounding schools, and their right to education is guaranteed.”

They added, “If the school site disappears and the school cannot be established despite demand, the students will inevitably suffer from poor learning environments. Responsibility for this lies not only with the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education but also with the city.”

In 2014, the Gangdong-Songpa Education Support Office and the Dunchon Jugong Reconstruction Association signed an agreement to donate the school site to establish a middle school within the complex. However, since the Ministry of Education's central investment review in 2020 deemed the establishment of the middle school 'inappropriate' due to the declining school-age population, no decision has been made to date.

While the final decision has been delayed, Seoul City announced the implementation of the 'School Facility Decision Improvement Plan' last October and is reviewing a change in the maintenance plan to convert the school site within the Dunchon Jugong complex into a public open space.

According to data disclosed by Gangdong-gu based on related agency materials, about 1,096 middle school students are expected to increase in the complex, but prospective residents estimate the school-age population to be around 3,000. Two elementary schools are under construction within the complex, each designed for 48 classes, capable of accommodating about 2,400 elementary students when they open in March next year.

Gangdong-gu argues that the previously reviewed number of school-age children was based on data surveyed from association members and purchasers, but with the recent three-year suspension of the mandatory actual residence requirement causing a surge in rental units, the actual number of school-age children can only be roughly estimated after the occupancy completion in March next year, when association members, purchasers, and tenants have moved in.

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