Mayor Park Hyungdeok: "I Will Make Dongducheon a Premium Educational City"

Dongducheon Emerges as a Desirable Educational City under the 8th Popularly Elected Administration
Selected as a “Special Education Development Zone” Amid Declining School-Age Population; 15 Billion KRW Education Budget Allocated This Year
20 Initiatives Including AI and SW Education and Multicultural Support Position City as a National Model

As the school-age population rapidly declines across the country, Dongducheon City in Gyeonggi Province is accelerating its transformation into an educational city. According to Dongducheon City on June 25, Mayor Park Hyungdeok, who has made education the city’s top priority since the start of his term, has significantly increased the education budget and launched distinctive, independent education programs. As a result, the city is shifting from a place people leave due to education to a city where people want to live because of education.

Park Hyungdeok, mayor of Dongducheon (right), and Lim Taehee, superintendent of Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education, are having a conversation. Photo by Dongducheon City

According to the Korea Education Statistics Service (KESS), as of 2024, the total number of elementary, middle, and high school students nationwide is about 5.17 million, a decrease of over 1 million compared to ten years ago. This is a clear example of how quickly the school-age population is shrinking.

The decline in student numbers is causing not only domestic crises such as reduced educational infrastructure, deepening regional imbalances, and weakened future industrial competitiveness, but also external crises, including a decline in national competitiveness. In particular, for small and medium-sized local governments, securing educational competitiveness has emerged as a key task that determines the survival and future of the region.

Despite these circumstances, Dongducheon City has been selected as a pilot area for the Ministry of Education’s “Special Education Development Zone,” emerging as a new model for public education innovation. The city is pursuing policies centered on three strategies under the vision of “Dream-Realizing Glocal Dongducheon”: a city ideal for raising children, a city fostering global talent, and a city nurturing future industry professionals.

Mayor Park Hyungdeok stated, “Having lived in Dongducheon for a long time, the most regrettable moments were when many people left the area for their children’s education,” and evaluated, “As a result of consistent efforts to improve the educational environment over the past three years, we have achieved remarkable outcomes such as being designated a special education zone and attracting the Korea Polytechnic University Dongducheon Convergence Technology Education Center.”

Park Hyungdeok, mayor of Dongducheon, is taking a photo with students while serving as an honorary teacher for one day at Dongducheon High School. Provided by Dongducheon City

For the first supplementary budget of this year, Dongducheon City has allocated a total education budget of 15 billion KRW. Notably, since the start of the current administration, the cumulative education budget has reached 57.6 billion KRW. This proves in numbers Mayor Park Hyungdeok’s philosophy that “education is the city’s competitiveness.”

In fact, the greatly expanded education budget under the current administration is being intensively invested in a variety of projects aimed at improving the educational environment and strengthening the capabilities of local students. Dongducheon City also regularly holds meetings with school principals and parents to enhance the effectiveness and transparency of its education projects, actively reflecting diverse on-site opinions in city administration and project implementation.

Dongducheon City is also making strong efforts to foster global talent. Initiatives such as operating SW·AI leading schools in cooperation with Dongyang University, promoting the designation of specialized high schools, expanding IB education, and providing intensive Korean language education for multicultural students are systematically laying the foundation for nurturing future industry professionals in the region.

Alongside these efforts, the city is actively pursuing distinctive, student-centered education programs. Notable examples include the “Dongducheon Dream-Realizing Club Support,” which broadens students’ horizons through domestic and international field trips and helps them grow into global talent; “Student Self-Governance Festival Support,” where students directly participate in planning, operating, and evaluating festivals; and the “Dongducheon-Style Free Uniform and Sportswear Support” project, which provides free uniforms and sportswear to all second-year middle and high school students in the city.

Park Hyungdeok, mayor of Dongducheon, is taking a commemorative photo after holding the 'AI, SW Leading School Operation Agreement Ceremony' with Dongyang University. Provided by Dongducheon City

All of these projects are being pursued with the goal of strengthening Dongducheon’s educational competitiveness by narrowing educational gaps, enhancing individual student capabilities, providing career exploration opportunities, and creating a comfortable educational environment where students can focus on their studies. In particular, the city is focusing on realizing an inclusive educational environment and eliminating blind spots in educational welfare through customized educational welfare that covers all age groups from kindergarteners to high school students.

In addition, the city is operating a total of 20 projects this year by adding five new projects to the 15 existing ones that achieved notable results last year. The new projects include the DDC Native English Class, digital AI-based invention education, nurturing core talent in future science, strengthening physical education career capabilities, and fostering local talent with a background in the humanities.

The Orbit Library, which officially opened on December 9 last year, is receiving an enthusiastic response from young people. Located on the 4th to 6th floors of the Complex Cultural Community Center, the library consists of a children’s materials room (Experience Zone, Infant Zone) on the 4th floor, a general materials room (3D Fairy Tale Experience Zone, VR Experience Zone) on the 5th floor, and a youth materials room (Club Room, Harmony Zone, Smart Sports Zone, Seminar Room) on the 6th floor. In particular, the library has established itself as a leading cultural space where young people can enjoy experiences, play, and communication, going beyond the traditional focus on book lending and reading.

Dongducheon City also operates the Together Care Center, which provides both care and education services. Since the start of the current administration, the city has achieved a milestone by participating in and being selected for Gyeonggi Province’s pilot project for utilizing vacant houses, creating an environment where citizens living in the old downtown can safely entrust their children and engage in their livelihoods. Through this project, the city opened the second Together Care Center within the Dongducheon Child Care Center, and in July this year, the third center will open at Idam Elementary School.

In addition to the facilities introduced above, Dongducheon City has a variety of support infrastructure to help young people realize their dreams. Through the Youth Support Center for Out-of-School Youth, the Youth Counseling and Welfare Center, the Youth Training Center, the Youth Culture House, and the Media Center, the city supports young people in accessing diverse educational and cultural programs and continuing their self-directed growth.

Industry-Academia-Government Agreement Ceremony for the Promotion of Agreement-Based Specialized High Schools. Provided by Dongducheon City

Furthermore, to reduce the burden of educational expenses and foster local talent, the city provides the “Dongducheon City Hometown Scholarship” to local students every year. According to a city official, as of April this year, the number of university student applicants increased by 29.5% compared to last year. In particular, this year, 337 scholarship recipients were selected, with 322 million KRW distributed in the first half of the year and 340 million KRW planned for the second half.

Mayor Park Hyungdeok said, “With a firm belief that the future of our city lies in education, we have established the slogan ‘Dongducheon thrives when education thrives’ and focused all our efforts on large-scale investment and nurturing talent. As the education projects of the current administration are bearing fruit, I will make sure to realize the vision of Dongducheon as a premium educational city within my term.”

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