Government Seeks Middle and High Schools to Introduce Hanbok Uniforms

25 Locations to Be Selected... Support of Up to 300,000 KRW per Student for Summer and Winter Uniforms

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Education announced on the 18th that they will be accepting applications from middle and high schools that plan to introduce Hanbok uniforms. After collecting preliminary opinions from students and parents, schools can submit applications under the principal's name to the Korea Craft & Design Foundation from the 3rd to the 28th of next month.

This year, twenty-five schools will be selected. Through the 'Hanbok Uniform Distribution Project,' fifteen schools receiving uniform cost support from local governments and metropolitan/provincial offices of education, as well as ten schools without such support, will be included.

Detailed support varies depending on whether free uniform support policies exist by region. For the former, if a Hanbok designer improves the design based on feedback from school officials, the school will receive support for producing uniform prototypes. For the latter, support includes dispatching a Hanbok designer, prototype production, and uniform purchase for three years.

An official explained, "After design improvements and prototype development are completed, uniforms will be provided to three grades of students, from incoming freshmen next year to the 2024 freshmen," adding, "Support is provided up to 300,000 KRW per student for one set each of summer and winter uniforms, following the Ministry of Education's recommendation." They also added, "We have prepared eighty-one types of uniform designs, including summer and winter uniforms and daily wear."

Since 2019, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Education have carried out this project, enabling about 2,300 students from sixteen middle and high schools to wear Hanbok uniforms. The Korea Craft & Design Foundation will exhibit Hanbok uniform prototypes at the KCDF Gallery in Insadong, Seoul, until the 21st of next month and operate a consultation desk regarding support details and procedures.

Lee Jin-sik, Director of Cultural Policy at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, stated, "We will not only distribute Hanbok uniforms but also Hanbok workwear and expand the benefits of wearing Hanbok so that people can enjoy wearing our traditional clothing in daily life."