USFK Servicemembers have once again saved a rural South Korean school from shutting down:

USFK servicemembers volunteer at Daesungdong Elementary School located inside the DMZ.

A public elementary school in a rural area of South Korea overcame a crisis to be closed and became famous even more than private schools. Some students in nearby areas are even lining up in order to enter the school. It is Daesungdong Elementary School. It is the only school in the world which is located within the DMZ. After the school was officially authorized in 1968, the number of entire students who graduated the school is only 149. It is also the closest school from the MDL, which is almost impossible for people to get access to. What is the reason that this school became a ‘luxury school’?

In-school special activities even better than private education

Daesungdong Elementary School faced a crisis with only six students left in February 2008, after three sixth graders graduated. There were no new students that entered this school in 2006 and 2007. Since the Paju Education Office set a policy that ‘a school with less than six students will be closed because it cannot enhance educational efficiencies’, the school became one of the targets to be closed.

Principal Choi Pyung and his 17 school personnel, having perceived this crisis, started to think out ‘special ideas for survival’ from September, 2006. They made a plan to include Daesungdong Elementary School into the Paju Joint School District so that any student within Paju City can go to this school. After consultations with the Paju Education Office, they successfully implemented the plan. However, there was no single reason for students to come to this school from a far distance.

After a series of deep studies, they decided to ‘conduct private education within the school’. They planned to invite and utilize US servicemembers as English teachers. The plan was to best utilize a number of US servicemembers serving the UNC, who guards the school and Daesungdong Village for twenty four hours a day. In May 2007, Principal Choi visited the UNC headquarters in Seoul to ask Chief Secretary to the UNCMAC COL Kurt Taylor for help. Next day, he visited JSA Security Battalion Commander LTC Anastasia to ask for help. The UNC readily accepted the school’s wish. 35 servicemembers have been teaching students for four hours a day twice a week in a threesome a time on rotation since March, 2008.

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This is the second rural school that has stayed open due to the fact that USFK servicemembers have been volunteering their time to teach English which has enhanced the reputation of the school.