[News Today] More closed schools left abandoned

[LEAD]
With the school-age population declining, over 360 closed schools remain abandoned nationwide. The government is exerting efforts to repurpose them, but can't keep up.

[REPORT]
An elementary school in Seoul.

It closed down two years ago.

Just part of the schoolyard is used as a temporary parking lot and the rest is virtually left abandoned.

Shin Eun-hee / Seoul resident
A few years have passed since it closed down. I hope that a large facility will be built, drawing a lot of people.

The decline in the school-age population is more serious in provincial regions.

This school shut down 25 years ago.

Windows are left broken and walls of classrooms are covered with mold.

Jeong Il-nam / Graduate
We submitted multiple proposals to rent or use it. The school should be dismantled for safety concerns.

About ten percent of nearly 3,900 closed schools nationwide are left unused and abandoned, turning into unsightly structures.

The central government devised and handed out special guidelines for local governments to utilize closed-down schools for various public projects.

However, the number of schools closing down is increasing far faster than that of utilized ones.

Prof. Yang Jeong-ho / Sungkyunkwan University
How could it be possible when there is no continued policy? It would be desirable to create a relevant agency and skills to manage closed schools.

Buan in Jeollabuk-do Province transformed a closed-down school into a cultural facility focusing on traditional paper hanji, making use of paper mulberry trees growing around the school.

Another good example of utilizing a local closed-down school can be found in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan which turned one into a brewery.

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