Japanese Local Governments' "Subsidies for Korean Schools" Have Continued to Decline Over 14 Years

It has been found that subsidies provided by Japanese local governments to Korean schools in Japan, which are ethnic schools for Koreans residing in Japan, continue to decline.

According to the Sankei Shimbun on October 26, citing internal data from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, in 2023, 11 prefectural governments and 83 municipal governments in Japan provided a total of 194.39 million yen (approximately 1.83 billion KRW) in subsidies to Korean schools or households with students attending these schools. This represents a decrease of 37 million yen (about 350 million KRW) compared to the previous year.

However, the newspaper noted that there has been no review of the subsidy policy, and speculated that the amount has remained largely unchanged when considering factors such as the declining number of students.

Nevertheless, compared to 2009, when Japanese local governments provided 840 million yen (about 8.74 billion KRW) in support to Korean schools, the amount has decreased to nearly one-fifth over the past 14 years.

Korean schools are not officially recognized as "schools" under Japan's School Education Act.

Prefectural governments authorize them as "miscellaneous schools," and subsidies are provided by each local government. However, even these subsidies have been significantly reduced.

Korean schools were established after the end of World War II to provide ethnic education to Koreans residing in Japan. They are supported by organizations such as the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon).