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Toward a “City of Future Educational Innovation” – Busan City and the Office of Education Strengthen Communication and Cooperation

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The Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) and the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education (Superintendent Kim Seok-jun) announced that they will hold the “First Half of 2025 Education Administration Council” meeting on June 23 at 4:00 PM in the first conference room of the Busan Office of Education.

The Education Administration Council serves as a discussion platform for key education-related issues between the city and the Office of Education, convened twice a year (in the first and second halves).

In this meeting, the two institutions will conduct in-depth discussions on a total of seven agenda items.

Proposed Agenda Items

• ●From the City (5 items):

• 1.Establishment of a main vacation remote work (workation) center utilizing the former Busan Nam High School

• 2.Creation of a Busan campus for the Korea National University of Arts

• 3.Provision of practice spaces for local artists

• 4.Operation of a permanent training program for Mongolian education officials

• 5.Construction of a realistic fire training center in Busan

• ●From the Office of Education (2 items):

• 1.Support and cooperation for expanding public access to school facilities

• 2.Provision of free school meal subsidies for the 2025 academic year

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Key Focus: Repurposing Closed Schools

The city emphasized that its proposals aim to transform closed schools from unused spaces into valuable community assets. By doing so, the city seeks to revitalize local economies, enhance residents’ welfare, and create educationally integrated community spaces.

One noteworthy example from last year’s second-half meeting is the jointly proposed “Development of Specialized Vocational High Schools through Agreement”, which led to the selection of Busan Tourism High School by the Ministry of Education in June 2025. As a result, the school will receive up to 4.5 billion KRW in government support over the next five years to train tourism and MICE professionals.

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Mayor Park Heong-joon stated:

“Now more than ever, it is crucial that we prepare for regional innovation, balanced development, and Busan’s future competitiveness.
We will actively communicate and cooperate with the Office of Education so that Busan can lead Korea’s balanced development and take a leap forward as a city of future educational innovation.”

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[Appendix] Meeting Overview

• ●Date & Time: Monday, June 23, 2025, at 16:00

• ●Venue: Conference Room 1, Busan Office of Education (2nd floor, Main Building)

• ●Attendees: Mayor, Superintendent of Education, relevant department directors

• ●Purpose: Discussion and deliberation on education-related agenda items between the city and the Office of Education

• ●Agenda: Total of 7 items (5 from the city, 2 from the Office of Education)