New int'l school to improve educational environment, boost investment

A new international school in Seoul opened on Wednesday, contributing to greatly improving the educational environment for foreign nationals and helping to boost investment in South Korea, government officials said.

The ministry of commerce and industry, which provided 10 billion won (US$10.3 million) of the total 35 billion won in construction costs, said the facility in the Yongsan area will help dispel one of the chief concerns that has hindered foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country.

Construction of Seoul Yongsan International School, which began in April 2005, was completed in June this year.

It is also the first joint project between the central and local government to create better living conditions to attract more foreign investment. The city of Seoul leased 23,100 square meters of land for the school.

"The opening of the school alleviates a chief concern of foreign investors who have cited a lack of good schools for holding back on doing business in South Korea," said Kim Pil-goo, head of the investment policy division at the commerce ministry.

He said for the first semester 560 students will be enrolled, while this will be enlarged to up to 1,000 in the future. All foreigners living in Seoul will be eligible to enroll their children.

The school has 30 classrooms, a music room, a computer lab, a gymnasium, a swimming pool and a library. The facility's floor space of 79,375 square meters includes a 400-seat auditorium and a cafeteria which seats 300 people.

The Korea Foreign Schools Foundation, set up in 2004, will oversee school operations.

Seoul, Aug. 16 (Yonhap News)