'Not in my backyard': Residents tell NK defector school

A student walks up the stairs at Yeomyung School, central Seoul, Monday. A Christian high school funded by Korean churches, Yeomyung School is the only government-accredited institution catering to the special needs of young North Korean defectors. Korea Times photo by Lee Suh-yoon

Row over Yeomyung School shows how North Korean defectors are marginalized in the South

By Lee Suh-yoon

Eunpyeong-gu, a residential district at the foot of Mount Bukhan in northwestern Seoul, prides itself as Seoul's geographic "reunification base" with North Korea.

A street named "Tongil-ro" ― or unification road in Korean ― passes through this commuter neighborhood crammed with endless screens of mountain-view apartments. Construction for a literary complex and history museum dedicated to reunification will break ground next year.

But when it comes to special schools for young North Korean defectors, some residents want no part in the grand vision.

"Our own children are packed like bean sprouts in classrooms," read an angry online petition by a resident, referring to a recent plan by Yeomyung High School, a special high school for young North Korean defectors in central Seoul, to build and move to a new campus in Eunpyeong.

"Under these circumstances, and the district office's failure to properly notify and get permission from residents, why should we accept a school that has nothing to do with the welfare of the children growing up here at Eunpyeong New Town?"

The planned construction site for a new Yeomyung School building in Eunpyeong New Town, northwestern Seoul. Korea Times photo by Lee Suh-yoon

The building rented by Yeomyung School is in a street famous for pork cutlet restaurants at the foot of Mount Nam in central Seoul. Currently, 84 students aged 17 to 27 attend the school, which offers special classes like comparative history of the two Koreas and field studies in South Korean society. Korea Times photo by Lee Suh-yoon

The petition ― with close to 700 signatures ― was posted on the Cheong Wa Dae website days after the conflict boiled over at a public hearing on the district's urban planning projects. Eunpyeong-gu Office said it has received some 120 complaints from residents against the planned campus since the hearing last month.

Pressured by residents and their representatives at the district council, the district office suspended the project recently by withholding filings on necessary zoning changes. The site is currently marked for the development of convenience facilities, such as restaurants and shops.

"The head of Eunpyeong-gu should have explained the objective to residents and won their consent first," Kim Jin-hui, a representative at Eunpyeong District Council, told The Korea Times on Monday. Kim was one of the most outspoken opponents of the project at the public hearing.

"Some parents even worry fights might break out between the young North Korean defectors and students from nearby schools. Such worries surface because residents don't know enough about this school."

Students attend a Christmas Mass led by an outside church group at the multi-purpose room on the first floor of Yeomyung School, Tuesday. The multi-purpose room, the biggest available space in the current school building, doubles as a cafeteria and gym. Korea Times photo by Lee Suh-yoon

A basket is filled with equipment for table tennis and indoor curling, two sports that can be played in the small multi-purpose room at Yeomyung School. Korea Times photo by Lee Suh-yoon

Kim says the plans touched a raw nerve with Eunpyeong-gu residents, who have been on edge recently over the district's plan to build Seoul's new waste recycling center in the district ― to which there has been a more understandable "not in my backyard" (NIMBY) backlash.

"Residents ask 'Why here? Is this neighborhood a congregative site for such facilities?'" Kim said.

Like the way a special school for disabled children was treated last year at Gangseo-gu, southwestern Seoul, schools for marginalized groups are sometimes shunned by local residents who fear their presence will dampen the housing market. For many Korean homeowners, the market price of their home is their biggest asset and only retirement plan.

Yeomyung School, the only government-accredited institution catering to the special needs of young North Korean defectors in Seoul, had been trying to buy and build a proper campus on a 2,144-square-meter lot owned by Seoul Housing & Communities Corp. (SH) in the Eunpyeong New Town residential area.

Seoul City suggested the site in March as the lease for the school's current building was ending. Yeomyung School is holed up in a cramped three-story building wedged in a low-rise commercial area under Mount Nam.

The school, if built, would finally get a proper gym and a small sports field. There might also be room for an on-site dormitory to support students whose parents work around the clock or are absent.

Student council members read birthday messages for classmates born in November and December at Yeomyung School, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Lee Suh-yoon

Students take an English exam at Yeomyung School, Monday. Korea Times photo by Lee Suh-yoon

"The site is ideal for letting students be close to nature, with the nearby mountain and stream," Lee Hung-hoon, the school principal, told The Korea Times, Tuesday. "I just don't understand why our school is being treated like a NIMBY facility."

Lee and other teachers are visiting local representatives door-to-door at apartments in Eunpyeong-gu. An online petition calling for the public's support for the new campus offers a long list of concessions to residents: promising community volunteer work, summer English camps open to local residents, free use of the school library and parking lot, and even allowing only female students into the school dormitory.

Students at Yeomyung School say they are aware of the conflict surrounding the school's move.

"I hope the school is able to move to a bigger site, allowing future incoming students to study in a better environment," said Lee, a 25-year-old student who asked to be identified only by her surname. Lee, a graduating student this year, plans to study clinical psychology in college to help North Korean defectors facing discrimination and other hardships here.

The marginalization of North Korean defectors in society paints a different picture to visions of reunification led by the more prosperous South. According to a 2017 survey by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, around half of North Korean defectors living in South Korea said they are discriminated against due to their background.

"If our society is unable to accept even young students, what hope is there for reunification?" principal Lee said. "It's all very sad."