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2026 Second-Half Education Program “Refugee School Program” for Elementary School Students

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The Provisional Capital Memorial Hall, affiliated with the Busan Modern and Contemporary History Museum, will offer two education programs for students in grades 3 through 6 beginning September 28: “Visiting Refugee School – Build It Yourself: The Presidential Residence in the Provisional Capital” and “Refugee School Tent Classroom – Wartime Refugee Songs Reimagined with AI.”

The “Visiting Refugee School” is an experiential class jointly conducted by the Provisional Capital Memorial Hall and elementary schools in Busan Metropolitan City. The program, themed “The Korean War and the Presidential Residence in the Provisional Capital,” features lectures and hands-on activities.

The classes will be held on weekdays from September 28 through December 4, with a total of 30 sessions. Instructors from the Provisional Capital Memorial Hall will visit participating elementary schools and conduct the program by class.

Following an audiovisual lecture, students will take part in a hands-on activity to assemble a three-dimensional model puzzle of the Presidential Residence in the Provisional Capital. By building a scaled-down model of the residence, students can observe features such as its roof structure, which are difficult to examine closely in the actual building, and gain a better understanding of its architectural characteristics.

The “Refugee School Tent Classroom” is an experiential program held in the outdoor tent classroom at the Provisional Capital Memorial Hall and offers a range of activities related to Busan as the provisional and refugee capital. During the second half of this year, the program will be conducted under the theme “The Korean War and Life in Busan as the Provisional and Refugee Capital.”

The program will be offered once each Saturday from October 3 through December 5, from 13:30 to 15:00, for a total of 10 sessions. Under the theme “The Korean War and Life in Busan as the Provisional and Refugee Capital,” each session will consist of a guided exhibition tour followed by a hands-on activity in which participants create an NFC keyring featuring a wartime refugee song.

NFC, or Near Field Communication, is a technology that enables wireless data exchange over a short distance. When a smartphone equipped with the function is brought into contact with the device, it automatically connects via Bluetooth.

Participants will visit exhibits including the “Refugee Art” section to learn about the lives of refugees during the Korean War, with a particular focus on refugee artists. They will then move to the outdoor tent classroom, where they will insert a wartime refugee song they have created into a keyring equipped with an NFC chip to make their own personalized NFC keyring.

For the “Visiting Refugee School,” teachers responsible for experiential learning at each school should survey class-level participation, complete an application form, and submit it by email to the Provisional Capital Memorial Hall education coordinator at tgkim777@korea.kr between 09:00 on September 14 and 18:00 on September 18.

Application results are scheduled to be announced on September 21 in the Notices section of the Provisional Capital Memorial Hall website.

The “Refugee School Tent Classroom” is open to students in grades 3 through 6 accompanied by a parent or guardian. Each student and accompanying parent or guardian may participate together as a team free of charge. Applications for each session may be submitted from 09:00 on Monday through 18:00 on Thursday of the corresponding week.

For the first session on October 3, applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis for eight teams per session through the Busan Metropolitan City Integrated Reservation website at http://reserve.busan.go.kr from 09:00 on September 28 through 18:00 on October 1. A parent or guardian may apply on behalf of a student, but only one student may be registered per user ID.

For further information, visit the Provisional Capital Memorial Hall website at https://www.busan.go.kr/monument/index or call 051-231-6341.

Ryu Seung-hun, Director of the Provisional Capital Memorial Hall, said, “I hope the Refugee School Program will give more students in Busan an opportunity to understand the historical and architectural significance of the Presidential Residence in the Provisional Capital. I also hope it will provide them with an opportunity to learn that Busan played an important role in Korea’s modern and contemporary history as both the provisional capital of the Republic of Korea and a major refuge during the Korean War.”