Seoul Education Office’s Budget for Next Year Hits 11.8014 Trillion Won in ‘Illusory Expansion’

[Financial News] The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said on the 4th that it had drawn up a 2027 budget proposal worth 11.8014 trillion won and submitted it to the Seoul Metropolitan Council. Although the total budget is up from this year’s original budget, actual spending on education programs and school facility improvements, excluding essential expenses such as personnel costs, has instead been cut, raising concerns about disruptions at schools. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, the 2027 budget proposal totals 11.8014 trillion won, up 859.2 billion won (7.9%) from the 2026 original budget of 10.9422 trillion won. However, the increase on paper is an optical illusion created by combining rigid expenses, such as salary increases, with earmarked government funding (special grants).
The education office’s general-fund budgets for education programs and facilities, which it can spend at its discretion, are actually down 18.8 billion won from the previous year’s original budget. Of the 2.5 trillion won requested by individual departments for education programs, 224.8 billion won could not be included, making cuts to programs unavoidable.
The biggest problem is the budget for school facility improvements directly related to student safety. At least 642.8 billion won is needed in 2027 for immediate projects such as replacing windows and renovating restrooms, but only 13.1 billion won was actually included. Including projects that have been postponed, the funding shortfall for improving educational environments alone reaches 676.6 billion won. The budget proposal also does not include funding to replace Dibeot, the digital devices used by students, so replacement of aging devices is expected to be delayed.
These financial difficulties are intertwined with the government’s proposed plan to reform local education finance grants. As the government seeks to replace the existing system, which linked grants to tax revenue, with one that takes into account factors such as the shrinking school-age population and economic growth, the ordinary grants allocated to education offices are at risk of being reduced. It is also increasingly likely to become difficult to draw up supplementary budgets, which have been used to make up shortfalls later with surplus tax revenue.

Despite its increasingly tight finances, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education prioritized a total of 1.0607 trillion won for three key areas: 460.5 billion won for mental health support and school safety, 178.4 billion won to ensure foundational academic skills, and 421.8 billion won for AI and digital education and the creation of future school spaces. The proposal also includes projects to put unused facilities to use, such as 3.2 billion won to create “Slow Campus,” which will turn closed school buildings into educational facilities dedicated to older adults.
Geun-sik Chung, superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, said, “A decline in the number of students does not mean we can cut investment in learning and safety,” and urged, “The government and the National Assembly should actively work to secure education funding so that essential educational activities at schools are not curtailed.”
The budget proposal will be finalized on December 23 after review by the Seoul Metropolitan Council.

[email protected] Kim Man-gi Reporter