When mandatory education began in South Korea (KOR)

Roh Jeong-tae

The author is a writer and senior fellow at the Institute for Social and Economic Research.

“All citizens shall have the right to receive education on an equal basis. At least elementary education shall be compulsory and free.” This was the text of Article 16 of South Korea’s first Constitution, approved on July 12, 1948, and promulgated on July 17 that year.

Students attend an entrance ceremony at a national elementary school in the 1960s. [JOONGANG PHOTO]

Based on that provision, the Education Act of 1949 stipulated that all citizens were entitled to six years of elementary education. With this legal foundation in place, South Korea introduced compulsory education on June 1, 1950.