'Middle School Assignments' Spark a Third Showdown in Godeok District ... Tensions Flare Over 'Placement-Related Harm vs. Double Standards'

[The Financial News] Large apartment complexes in Seoul’s Godeok district, Gangdong-gu, are clashing once again over middle school assignments. Some say that resentment, which began with a dispute over blocking a pedestrian path last year, has spilled over into an education conflict, pushing local self-interest to a peak.
According to industry sources on the 13th, residents of Godeok Artheon in Sangil-dong and those of nearby complexes, including Godeok Central IPark, Godeok Xi, Godeok Lotte Castle Beneluce and Godeok Forest IPark, have launched collective action ahead of next year’s middle school assignments. Both sides appear to have entered an all-out battle, gathering opinions and filing complaints with the Gangdong-Songpa District Office of Education under the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. Artheon is calling for middle school assignments across all complexes in the Godeok district, including Godeok Gracium in Godeok-dong, to switch from a distance-based system to a random lottery. The background to this demand is the issue of assignment to Gangmyeong Middle School early this year. Students living in Artheon, completed in 2020 with 4,066 households, had been assigned to Godeok Middle School through 2025, but this year about 26% were assigned to Gangmyeong Middle School. At the time, Artheon strongly protested to the education office and also sent Gangmyeong Middle School an official letter on behalf of its residents’ representative body, requesting “meetings to help new students adjust.” It was criticized for excessive interference.
By contrast, four complexes, including Godeok Central IPark, Godeok Xi, Godeok Lotte Castle Beneluce and Godeok Forest IPark, are asking for more Artheon students to be assigned to Gangmyeong Middle School. Godeok Gracium, which accounts for a large share of assignments to Godeok Middle School, cites the need to ease overcrowding there. The four complexes, including Godeok Central IPark, whose students are assigned to Hanyeong and Sangil middle schools, are also pointing to overcrowding at those two schools and strongly opposing Artheon’s demand for a “random lottery.”
Controversy erupted early this year after it emerged that Artheon residents avoid Gangmyeong Middle School because it is close to complexes with a high proportion of rental housing. Critics say that, ultimately, most complexes are showing self-interest for similar reasons. One expert said, “Godeok has been transformed beyond recognition into a new residential area of some 20,000 households, making conflicts over school assignments unavoidable,” but added that “neighbors are going too far in setting themselves against one another by labeling assignment to a particular school as ‘harm.’”
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education’s “Middle School Vacancies” data, which is used to assess whether transfers are possible, Gangmyeong Middle School currently has 22 vacancies in its first year, while Godeok, Hanyeong and Sangil middle schools each have none. The education office says that, as a rule, students are assigned by computer lottery to schools within the school district for their place of residence, taking into account commuting conditions and each school’s capacity. The dispute is also ongoing over elementary school assignments. When they moved in, Artheon residents effectively claimed an “exclusive right” to attend Gohyeon Elementary School. To this day, only Artheon students are assigned there, while residents of Godeok Central IPark, Godeok Xi and other complexes, whose children are assigned to Goil Elementary School, are voicing concerns about overcrowding there.
Meanwhile, clashes between complexes in the Godeok district began last year when Artheon’s residents’ representative council tried to restrict outsiders from using a public pedestrian path inside the complex. Nearby complexes pushed back, citing inconvenience to residents—including a longer distance to the station—and the public interest. Artheon later announced plans to impose an “order-maintenance fee” of up to 200,000 won on people using the path.
[email protected] Jeon Min-kyung Reporter