Moving Beyond Rote-Learning-Based Unification Education Through Hands-On Activities and Play

[Financial News] The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education will hold the “2026 Seoul Students’ Unification Dream-Ireum Festa” on the 17th in and around Dosan Park in Seoul, with elementary, middle and high school students and their parents taking part.
According to SMOE on the 15th, the event was organized to move beyond dull, textbook-centered rote learning and help students naturally experience the values of peace and unification through play, the arts and hands-on activities.
The event will feature a variety of activities, including making and tasting ppeongppeongi tteok, a signature North Korean market food, and experiencing a rail journey that runs through the Korean Peninsula and on to Europe through a board game. There will also be attractions for the whole family, including a North Korean tofu-rice cooking show for parents, an original musical about peaceful reunification and performances by youth dance teams.
Participating students will carry a “Unification Dream-Ireum Passport” and make their way through four themed zones—Memory (exhibition), Understanding (education), Participation (hands-on activities) and Future (performances)—collecting stamps along the way. Students who complete all the activities will receive a “Peaceful Reunification Leader Certificate.”
Seoul Superintendent of Education Geun-sik Chung said, “This event will be a valuable opportunity for students to grow through play and a festival into key figures in a future of peaceful reunification,” adding, “We will continue to expand a range of educational spaces where sensitivity to peace can be nurtured in everyday life.”

[email protected] Kim Man-gi Reporter