Temporary Placement at Other Schools for 6 Months, Operation of School Shuttle Bus
The tentatively named Jangyu Sinmun Elementary School, located in the Jangyu Sinmun New Town district of Gimhae, Gyeongnam, which was scheduled to open next spring, will now open in September 2025.
According to the Gyeongnam Office of Education on the 11th, the tentatively named Jangyu Sinmun Elementary School in Jangyu-dong, Gimhae City, passed the Ministry of Education's central investment review in April 2022 and will be built to accommodate 42 classes, including one special class and three attached kindergartens, with a student capacity of 1,099.
The school is being established with a total project cost of 54.3 billion KRW to accommodate students generated from 3,764 apartment households scheduled to move in February 2025 in this area.
Originally planned to open in March 2025, the opening was delayed due to the extension of the Jangyu Sinmun New Town urban development project period from December 2023 to December 2025, causing difficulties in purchasing the school site.
Proposed site for the tentative Jangyu Sinmun Elementary School within the Jangyu Sinmun Newspaper District, Gimhae, Gyeongnam. [Provided by Gyeongnam Office of Education]
Even if the school site, which was to be built on vacant land within the Jangyu Sinmun New Town district, was purchased, ownership transfer registration could not be completed until the end of the project period under the Urban Development Act.
If the school opened before the urban development was completed, securing urban infrastructure such as water and sewage systems was also uncertain.
Accordingly, the Office of Education negotiated multiple times with the landowner, the Jangyu Sinmun New Town Urban Development Association, regarding the establishment of a lien on the school site, and with the cooperation of Gimhae City, prepared measures to secure urban infrastructure, culminating in the signing of the school site sales contract at the end of February.
As the negotiation process was prolonged and the opening date changed from March to September next year, students of Jangyu Sinmun Elementary School will attend other schools within Jangyu-dong until the school opens.
The Office of Education plans to operate school buses for students temporarily assigned to other schools.
Lee Jong-bu, Director of the School Support Division, said, “After long discussions not only with related departments within the Office of Education but also with the Urban Development Association, the apartment project implementers, and Gimhae City, we have proceeded with the establishment of the school. Although students will inevitably attend other schools for six months, we will do our best to ensure commuting safety and minimize infringement on their right to learn.”
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