Safeguarding international schools in South Korea: country guide

Two routes exist. The first is the foreigners' school, set up under Article 60-2 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. It serves the children of foreigners and some Korean nationals who lived abroad.

The owner applies to the superintendent of education of the city or province. The regulations on schools for foreigners set out the steps (Article 6).

The second route covers school-level foreign institutions in free economic zones and on Jeju. A separate law governs them. The superintendent of education approves and supervises them (Articles 5 and 9).

Accreditors sit on top of the licence. Schools in South Korea publish accreditation or programmes from the bodies below. Check which ones your school answers to.

• Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)
• Council of International Schools (CIS)
• New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC)
• International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes

Yes, on a plain reading. The child abuse Act (formally the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes, 2014) lists 27 groups who must report. Heads and employees of schools under Article 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act are one of them (Article 10(2)).

Article 2 of that Act includes "various kinds of schools", the category foreigners' schools fall into. The separate law for free economic zones and Jeju says the education act does not apply to those institutions, so ask counsel whether the duty names your school. Follow the same route either way.

The report goes at once to the city or province government, the city, county or district office, or an investigative agency such as the police. The receiving body must start an investigation straight away unless it has good cause not to (Article 10(4)).

A missed report without good cause can bring a fine of up to 10 million won (Article 63). Nobody may reveal who made a report (Article 10(3)) or treat a reporter unfavourably (Article 10-2).

If a child is in immediate danger, call emergency services first. Then follow your school's child protection procedure and tell your designated safeguarding lead (DSL) the same day.

The government pages read for this guide do not say whether these lines offer English. Agree now who at your school speaks Korean well enough to make the call.

• 112: police. The Korean National Police Agency lists it for crime reports, and the National Center for the Rights of the Child gives it for child abuse reports.
• 119: fire, accidents and rescue, listed on the same police page.
• 1388: a free youth counselling line, open 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
• Your DSL: tell them the same day, every time.

Standards based on the International Task Force on Child Protection (ITFCP) ask every adult to pass concerns to the DSL. So does Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE) in England. Neither is Korean law (see which parts of KCSIE travel abroad).

The Child Welfare Act defines child abuse as harm by an adult, including a guardian (Article 3). It counts anyone who supervises a child through work as a guardian, so teachers appear to be inside the definition.

The child abuse Act says legitimate educational activities and student guidance by teachers are not child abuse (Article 2). It names teachers under the education acts, so ask counsel how that reaches your staff. In a case against a teacher, police and prosecutors must weigh any opinion from the superintendent (Article 17-3).

One procedure can serve both. Staff tell the DSL the same day, and the DSL decides with the school's lawyer which Korean body to tell. Mandatory reporting laws for international schools compares other countries.

Harm between students sits in a different law, and child-on-child abuse needs its own staff training. The Act on the Prevention of and Countermeasures against Violence in Schools covers bullying, cyber violence and deepfake videos.

Anyone who sees school violence must report it at once to the school or the authorities (Article 20). A head must not hide cases, and must report them to the superintendent of education (Article 19).

The Act defines bullying as constant or repeated harm. A teacher who reads that as a threshold may wait for a second incident. Staff should report the first time, and the DSL decides which law applies.

The Personal Information Protection Act (2011) is the main law. The Korea Law Translation Center text used here runs to the amendment of 10 March 2026. It is a reference translation with no legal effect.

The English text has no general rule that data must stay in South Korea. It limits cross-border transfer, and counts storage and outsourced processing as transfer (Article 28-8). Grounds include separate consent from the person.

A child under 14 needs consent from a legal representative (Article 22-2). Health and sex-life data need separate consent unless a law requires the processing (Article 23). Articles 15 and 17 allow sharing for a legal duty or danger to life, so ask your lawyer how that fits a report.

After a breach, the school must tell those affected without delay and report to the Personal Information Protection Commission (Article 34). Ask every supplier where the data is stored, who can read it, and how it would report a breach.

Employees of schools are on the reporter list, so train every language group on your campus. The National Center for the Rights of the Child released a reporting guide in 12 languages on 7 October 2026, including English and Russian. It has an adult edition and a child edition.

Corporal punishment is banned in every setting, including the home. The Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children reports this in its country report, last updated March 2021. The Civil Act article on parental discipline was deleted in January 2021.

The enforcement decree of the education act bars heads and teachers from methods that hurt a student's body (Article 40-3). Put the same rule in your staff code for every adult.

Article 56 of the Act on the Protection of Children and Youth against Sex Offenses tells a school head to check staff for sex-offence history, with consent. Also ask for police certificates from every country a new hire has lived in, as in safer recruitment for international schools.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Laws change, so confirm current law with local counsel and the relevant authority. The laws were read on 19 October 2026.

• Find out which licence your school holds: foreigners' school, or free economic zone or Jeju.
• Ask counsel in writing whether Article 10(2) of the child abuse Act names your school.
• Write the reporting route on one page, naming the Korean speaker who makes the call.
• Post 112, 119 and 1388, and your local city, county or district office, where staff can see them.
• Run the sex-offence history check with consent, and ask for police certificates from other countries.
• Tell the Office of Education within seven days when you appoint or dismiss a teacher (Article 14).
• Ask your data lawyer where records are stored and when a transfer needs separate consent.