More than 4,000 schools nationwide have closed because of a lack of students, a South Korean lawmaker said on Dec 28.

韩国一名议员12月28日表示，韩国全国已有超过4000所学校因生源不足关闭。

According to Representative 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.

韩国执政党共同民主党议员金善美从教育部获得的数据显示， 迄今已有共计4008所小学、初中和高中关闭。

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.

其中小学占大多数，为3674所，其次是264所初中和70所高中。 过去五年，有158所学校关闭，预计未来五年还将有107所学校关闭。

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.

按地区划分，全罗北道预计关闭学校数量最多，为16所；全罗南道紧随其后，为15所； 京畿道12所；忠清南道11所。

The figures reflect a sharper decline in student populations in non-metropolitan areas. Of the 4,008 closed schools, 376 remain unused. Among them, 266 have been left unutilised for more than 10 years, while 82 have remained abandoned for over 30 years.

这些数据反映出非都市区学生数量下降得更快。 在已关闭的4008所学校中，有376所仍处于闲置状态。 其中266所已闲置超过10年，82所已废弃超过30年。

"A significant number of schools have already closed, and more are expected to shut down due to declining student numbers," Mr Jin said.

金善美称：“大量学校已经关闭，预计未来还会有更多学校因学生数量减少而关闭。”

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.

根据教育部2月份的数据，2025学年的教师岗位总数减少了2232个。 小学教师减少了1289名，初中教师减少了1700名。

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.

对此，省市级教育部门采取了权宜之计， 包括将一些学校的班级规模降低至10至15名学生，并增加班级数量。