[Exclusive] 199.6 Billion Won Worth of Closed Schools Sold in 5 Years... Local Governments 'Monopolize' School Sites [Extinction] ⑨

150 Closed Schools Sold Between January 2020 and March 2024
Local Governments Purchased 111 Out of 150 Closed Schools
Strict Sales Conditions Effectively Give Local Governments a Monopoly
Poor Management After Sales... "Various Stakeholders Need to Participate"

Local governments are effectively monopolizing the purchase of closed schools that have been put up for sale. The current legal framework makes it difficult for private entities to participate in the acquisition of closed schools, while local governments can receive budget support from the central government. This has led to local governments dominating the purchase of closed schools. Some of these sites have been left neglected due to poor management after being acquired by local governments.

The clock at Seongsu Technical High School, which was closed in 2024, has stopped. 2025.04.16 Photo by Dongju Yoon

According to statistics from the offices of education in 17 regions nationwide, obtained on the 24th through the office of Kang Kyungsook, a member of the National Innovation Party, there were 150 sales transactions involving closed schools between January 2020 and March 2024. Gangwon Province saw the highest number of closed schools sold, with a total of 41. This was followed by South Gyeongsang with 38, South Jeolla with 32, North Gyeongsang with 15, North Chungcheong with 11, Busan with 6, North Jeolla with 3, Daegu with 2, Gyeonggi with 1, and Ulsan with 1.

The total sales amount was approximately 199.63 billion won. Among all provincial and metropolitan offices of education, the South Gyeongsang Office of Education earned the most from the sale of closed schools, generating a total of 69.88 billion won. This was followed by the Busan Office of Education with 45.38 billion won, the Daegu Office of Education with 23.86 billion won, the Gangwon Office of Education with 22.78 billion won, and the North Gyeongsang Office of Education with 15.58 billion won, each receiving more than 10 billion won from such sales.

Closed schools located in urban areas were sold at higher prices. The most expensive closed school was Samrak Middle School in Busan, purchased by Korea Land and Housing Corporation in December 2021 for approximately 23.05 billion won. It is believed that the presence of an industrial complex near the closed school contributed to the high land price. In contrast, the lowest-priced closed school was Yeonggwangseo Elementary School Wolsan Branch in Yeonggwang-gun, South Jeolla, which was sold in April 2020. An individual purchased the site for 111,500 won and is now using it for a seedling business.

Local governments purchased 111 out of 150 closed schools... Economic utilization is limited

Local governments were the largest purchasers of closed schools. Of the 150 closed schools sold during this period, local governments acquired 111. The total amount spent by local governments was 142.29 billion won, averaging 1.28 billion won per school. Private sector participation was minimal. Only 14 closed schools were sold to individuals. Local residents and private companies each purchased five closed schools.

It is difficult for the private sector to acquire and utilize closed schools

There are concerns that the strict sales conditions set by law make it difficult for the private sector to actively participate in the utilization of closed schools. According to Article 5 of the Special Act on the Promotion of Utilization of Closed School Properties, superintendents of education in provinces and metropolitan cities may sell closed schools by private contract to those intending to use them for educational, welfare, cultural, sports, or rural return and settlement support facilities. In effect, the sales conditions are tailored to local governments. Even if someone wishes to purchase a closed school site for economic purposes such as increasing income, a private contract is not possible unless they are a local resident, or an agricultural or fisheries corporation or cooperative based in the area.

Local governments, which can receive financial support from the central government, face less of a burden compared to the private sector. When local governments in depopulated areas attempt to utilize closed schools, they receive various grants from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Since 2022, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety has established a Local Extinction Response Fund to support local governments in areas at risk of extinction. This year as well, 15 metropolitan and 107 basic local governments will receive support totaling 1 trillion won. In fact, South Gyeongsang Province used the Local Extinction Response Fund last year to transform a closed school in Tongyeong City into a youth vitality hub. Seongnam City in Gyeonggi Province also transformed Yeongseong Girls' Middle School, which closed in 2019, into the arts education institution 'Dreaming Arts Center,' receiving 3 billion won through a Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism grant program for cultural and arts education centers utilizing idle spaces.

Nevertheless, it is not uncommon to find cases where closed school sites acquired by local governments are left neglected due to poor management. In December 2020, Gangwon Province purchased Baekjeon Elementary School Yongso Branch in Hwaam-myeon, Jeongseon-gun, Gangwon for about 25.47 million won. Although the stated purpose was the development of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics Special Zone, the site is currently not being used for any particular purpose. A Gangwon Province official stated, "Hwaam-myeon, Jeongseon-gun is not currently an Olympic special zone," and added, "I am not sure what the purpose of purchasing the closed school site was at the time."

There are also cases where local governments, after acquiring closed school sites, fail to find a use for them and belatedly seek help from private companies. Haenam-gun purchased the site of Hwasannam Elementary School in 2018 to use it as a cultural facility. However, due to remodeling costs and other barriers, the cultural facility was never established. Instead, in November 2023, Haenam-gun signed a business agreement with the distribution specialist corporation H&B Asia to create a climate change response fruit demonstration complex. A Haenam-gun official stated, "This is the first case where we have attracted investment by leasing a closed school site to an agricultural and food company," adding, "It is an advanced model for utilizing closed schools in agricultural and fisheries regions."

There are calls to change the structure in which local governments monopolize closed school sites and to seek diverse utilization plans. Representative Kang stated, "If the entities that can utilize closed schools through sales are limited to specific groups, it will be difficult to find creative solutions," and added, "While it is important to make multifaceted efforts to prevent closed schools from occurring in the first place, it is now time to actively consider how to utilize already closed schools for education and local sustainability by involving a variety of stakeholders."