December 29, 2025
SEOUL – More than 4,000 schools nationwide have closed due to a lack of students, a lawmaker said Sunday.
According to Rep. Jin Sun-mee of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, who obtained data from the Education Ministry, a total of 4,008 elementary, middle and high schools have shut down to date.
Elementary schools accounted for the majority, at 3,674, followed by 264 middle schools and 70 high schools.
Over the past five years, 158 schools closed, and another 107 are expected to shut down over the next five years.
By region, North Jeolla Province is projected to record the highest number of closures, with 16 schools, followed by South Jeolla Province with 15, Gyeonggi Province with 12 and South Chungcheong Province with 11. The figures reflect a sharper decline in student populations in nonmetropolitan areas.
Of the 4,008 closed schools, 376 remain unused. Among them, 266 have been left unutilized for more than 10 years, while 82 have remained abandoned for over 30 years.
“A significant number of schools have already closed, and more are expected to shut down due to declining student numbers,” Jin said. “There needs to be a long-term roadmap to utilize these schools as assets for local communities.”
Falling student numbers are bringing sweeping changes to schools nationwide.
According to the Education Ministry in February, the total number of teaching positions for the 2025 academic year was cut by 2,232. The number of elementary school teachers was reduced by 1,289, while middle school teaching posts fell by 1,700.
In response, provincial and metropolitan education offices have adopted stopgap measures, including lowering class sizes at some schools to about 10 to 15 students and increasing the number of classes.