NIMBY against a refugee school intensify in Seoul: School principal forced to knee before protesters

Source: https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20260917199800504

“Please take in our children. They have nowhere else to go. I don’t know much about the procedural details, but if anyone has done something wrong, let the blame fall on me. Please allow the children to continue their education.”
Cho Myung-sook, principal of Yeomyung School in Seoul, an alternative educational institution for young North Korean defectors, made the tearful plea on her knees during a residents’ briefing held at the school in Gangseo District on the afternoon of the 17th.
The meeting, organized by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, was held to gather residents’ opinions on a proposal to construct a new Yeomyung School building and a Seoul Early Childhood Education and Development Institute facility on the site of the former Yeomgang Elementary School.
Yeomyung School was first established in Gwanak District in 2004 before relocating to Myeong-dong in Jung District. After a planned move to Eunpyeong District fell through, it began operating in March 2023 from the former Yeomgang Elementary School building under a temporary lease.
With the school’s permitted use of the building set to expire next February, the relevant authorities signed a memorandum of understanding to construct a permanent school building on the site. However, opposition emerged among residents of nearby apartment complexes, who formed an “Emergency Committee Opposing the Construction of Yeomyung School.” As a result, another residents’ briefing was held, following one held last month.
Around 100 residents and officials attended the meeting, which lasted approximately an hour and a half.
Residents opposed to the construction of the school, including members of the emergency committee, held placards reading, “The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education must honor its promise of temporary use. We strongly oppose the construction of Yeomyung School without residents’ consent. Immediately reverse the change to facilities intended for children!” They repeatedly shouted “We oppose it” throughout the meeting.
Posters bearing the same message had also been placed throughout the school grounds in areas regularly used by students.
Even as education officials explained the justification and need for the school building, as well as plans to separate its routes of movement from those of the early childhood education facility, opponents protested loudly, demanding that the authorities “build only the originally planned facilities for young children” and telling the school to “go somewhere else.”
Other residents urged them to “at least listen to what the education office has to say,” while Principal Cho went so far as to say, “I will donate all of the assets I have accumulated over the past 20 years to improve the educational environment.” Her words, however, were drowned out by the shouting of residents opposed to the project.