A Playground Now Turned into a Chili Field... The Teacher Who Photographs Closed Schools Says, "It's Someone's Childhood" [Extinction] ⑧

Started in 2008, photographed over 300 closed schools
Most memorable: Seongsan Branch of Donghyang Elementary
Gamgok Elementary now has only 18 students
"Schools should be seen as welfare, not just economics"

Editor's Note"It takes a village to raise a child." This is a famous Nigerian proverb. However, the reverse is also true: to sustain a village, children are needed. This is the reality facing villages across Korea today. Villages that do not raise children are paying the price. They have become neglected, outdated, dark, and shrouded in silence as people no longer pass through. This article seeks to directly observe the impact that abandoned schools have on local communities.

"Teacher! Teacher!" On the 15th, at 3:30 p.m., the area around Gamgok Elementary School in Gamgok-myeon, Jeongeup-si, Jeonbuk, surrounded by fields, suddenly became lively. Children were leaving school to go home. Just five minutes earlier, the place had been quiet with no one around, but now it was filled with energy. The children clung to Seo Youngju (54, male), who was wearing a checkered shirt, and chatted with him. Seo gently patted each child on the head, regardless of their size, and told them to be careful on their way home. Some children went straight home, while others walked with friends, playing around. This is the daily life of teachers and students at a rural school with only 18 students in total.

On the 15th, Seo Youngju (54, male), whom I met at Gamgok Elementary School in Gamgok-myeon, Jeongeup-si, Jeonbuk, is an elementary school teacher and photographer. He is showing a photo he took in 2008 of the closed Seongsan Branch of Donghyang Elementary School in Jinan-gun, Jeonbuk. Photo by Gong Byungseon

Seo is both a 26-year veteran elementary school teacher and a photographer who exclusively photographs closed schools. Since 2008, he has traveled throughout Jeonnam and Jeonbuk, photographing abandoned schools. He has photographed more than 300 closed schools so far. In 2011, he held a solo exhibition titled "Imagination," featuring photos of closed schools. The photos he showed included well-maintained, tidy closed schools, schools hidden in overgrown grass, and buildings with broken, scattered construction materials.

As he showed the photos he had taken, he remembered exactly when he visited each school, what the surrounding scenery was like, and what remained at each site.

"At the closed Namcheon Elementary School in Namwon-si, Jeonbuk, there is a statue of Auguste Rodin's 'The Thinker.' In the 2000s, as globalization trends spread, European-style statues appeared even at schools. Interestingly, right next to it is a statue of 'Jeong Jaesu,' a filial son representing the Confucian virtue of filial piety in the East."

The closed school that left the strongest impression on Seo is the Seongsan Branch of Donghyang Elementary School in Jinan-gun, Jeonbuk. Located deep in the mountains, the school building is so small it only has two classrooms. He said that some people might even mistake it for a warehouse. In the small playground in front of the closed school, someone had cultivated the field and planted chili peppers. On the wall of the building, a slogan read, "Be loyal to the country and filial to your parents."

He said, "While photographing the Seongsan Branch of Donghyang Elementary School, I met a parent and village resident who once sent their child to this school. Since it is difficult for teachers to commute here, a couple who were both teachers used to live in the building," and added, "When visiting closed schools, I often see slogans that are rare these days. These are traces of the ideology that past authoritarian regimes sought to instill."

On the 15th, Seo Youngjoo (54, male), whom we met at Gamgok Elementary School in Gamgok-myeon, Jeongeup-si, Jeonbuk, showed and explained an album containing photos of Yonggwak Elementary School, which was closed in 2010. Photo by Gong Byungseon

The reason he started photographing closed schools is because of the unique meaning these schools hold. Although abandoned schools now evoke a sense of loneliness, they were once the childhood and joy of someone. Seo began seeking out closed schools to document the childhoods of people who would never return. When he posted photos of closed schools on his blog, people would visit and leave comments sharing their memories of those schools. Every time he read such comments, Seo felt a sense of pride. "The elementary school I attended was Deokjin Elementary School in Jeonju-si, Jeonbuk. When I occasionally visit Deokjin Elementary, old memories come back and I simply feel happy. It's the same with closed schools. They are spaces of childhood and joy for everyone. I wanted to preserve those spaces, at least in photographs."

However, he could not feel only joy while photographing closed schools. Seo explained, "A closed school does not simply mean that a school has shut its doors." The closure of a school means that there are no children in the village, and that even adults can no longer settle there. In other words, it signifies what is left behind in the process of regional extinction.

The Jeonbuk region is also experiencing school closures due to population decline. According to the Local Education Finance Information System, there have been 61 school closures in Jeonbuk so far, and among them, 7 are currently unused. There is also a closed school not far from Gamgok Elementary. Yonggwak Elementary School, located a 7-minute drive away, closed in 2010 after being merged with Gamgok Elementary due to a decrease in the number of students. According to the Local Education Finance Information System, Yonggwak Elementary is currently listed as being used as an ecological experience center. However, when visited in person, the doors were locked and the grounds were overgrown with weeds, effectively abandoned. When discussing Yonggwak Elementary, Seo showed an album of photos from Yonggwak Elementary that had been transferred to Gamgok Elementary after the merger. In the photos, more than 100 students from the 1970s could be seen running around and enjoying a sports day.

On the 15th, Yonggwak Elementary School in Gamgok-myeon, Jeongeup-si, Jeonbuk, which is located 7 minutes away from Gamgok Elementary School, was visited. Yonggwak Elementary School was closed in 2010 due to a decrease in the number of students. According to the Local Education Finance Information System, it is listed as being used as an ecological experience center, but the facility was abandoned without any visitors. Photo by Gong Byungseon

This reality is not far from Gamgok Elementary, where Seo currently works. The entire school has only 18 students, with just three in the fifth grade and five in the sixth. This year, only one first grader enrolled. Gamgok Elementary is the only school in Gamgok-myeon, so it is unlikely to close, but after the fifth and sixth graders graduate, there may be fewer than ten students left. The population of Jeongeup-si, which was about 260,000 in 1970, had dropped significantly to 102,851 as of June last year. As a rural teacher, Seo has often heard parents say they leave the countryside for the city for their children's education. In the fifth-grade classroom where he is the homeroom teacher, there were only three chairs.

However, Seo hopes that stories of rural students receiving a good education and being happy will spread. He believes that only then will children and parents consider coming to the countryside. Although students at Gamgok Elementary cannot attend after-school academies due to living in a rural area, they can learn things after school that even city students rarely experience, such as drones and golf. What Seo emphasizes most is the bond between teachers and students. Seo said, "I have worked at large schools before, but I have never had such close relationships with students as I do at a rural school," and added, "Because I can make eye contact with each student during class, their focus is better. I can check on their progress and everyone has a chance to present, so the students' satisfaction with their education is high."

On the 15th, at Gamgok Elementary School in Gamgok-myeon, Jeongeup-si, Jeonbuk, we met Yeongju Seo (54, male) in the 5th-grade classroom where he is the homeroom teacher. There are only three desks and chairs each. Photo by Byungseon Gong

Seo stressed that rather than closing a school easily just because the number of students has decreased, it is important to hold on for as long as possible. Once a school is closed, it is difficult to repurpose, and if left abandoned, it can have a significant negative impact on the local community. He said, "I hope that education is not approached from an economic perspective. From the standpoint of educational welfare, we should provide sufficient educational opportunities even for just a few students," and added, "Instead of closing schools, I hope we can think about how to attract people and strengthen the local community."