Building Owner Who Gave Up 1 Million Won Monthly Rent to Create Children's 'Tonghak-ro' Route

A story about a building owner in Jeonju, Jeonbuk, who gave up rental income exceeding 10 million won annually to create a school route for neighborhood children is touching netizens.

According to Yonhap News on the 12th, Park Juhyun, who lives in Inhudoong, Jeonju, operates a commercial building in the neighborhood. There is a path between the fruit store and vegetable store in this building, which is used as a school route by elementary school students from nearby apartments.

The commercial building school route was first created 10 years ago in 2013. At that time, Park built a commercial building on what was a parking lot and made a passageway in the middle of the building.

The passage leading to Jeonju Inhu Elementary School. It is open in the middle of a commercial building.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

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Park had planned to add a new building in this section. He even surrounded the area with metal pipes for construction. However, after seeing more than 200 to 300 children passing under the metal pipes daily, he changed his mind.

He explained, "Even though I told them not to, I kept seeing children passing through. I worried about what would happen to the children if I blocked this and built a store, so I decided to make a path."

The passageway space is about 99㎥ (approximately 30 pyeong). If a new building had been erected here, it could have generated 1 million won in monthly rent, totaling 12 million won annually. However, after much consideration, Park and his wife chose to create a safe school route for the children.

Currently, elementary school students use the passageway as a shortcut to Inhu Elementary School near the commercial building. By using the new school route instead of the road, their commute to and from school has become safer.

Park said, "I feel proud when I see hundreds of children passing through the passageway every day," and added, "It pains me whenever I see news about traffic accidents in child protection zones, so I hope more safe paths for children will be created."

Netizens who read the news praised Park's good deed, saying, "It must have been a difficult decision, and I salute you," "You did a great thing," and "You are a righteous person. I hope your business prospers as well."

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