Women denied access to education mourn principal who gave it back

Lee Seon-jae, principal of Ilsung Women’s Middle and High School, devoted his life to educating women and other students who had missed schooling, and died on May 10 at age 90. The school now serves 950 adult learners, including women who study alongside their jobs and family responsibilities. In his will, Lee directed that it operate only until February 2028, and efforts to secure a path for it to continue have faced obstacles.

Lee fled Kaesong for Seoul during the 1951 evacuation and opened a night school in 1960.

The school received recognition as an educational facility from the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education in 2000.

About 63,000 students studied under Lee’s care.

A petition asking lawmakers to amend the Lifelong Education Act needed 50,000 signatures within 30 days but lapsed without reaching that threshold.

Kim Bong-ja graduated from Ilsung’s high school division and is now a student at Sookmyung Women’s University.

Published Nov 1, 2026 12:10 am KST

Principal educated Korean women denied schooling since 1960

Lee Seon-jae, late principal of Ilsung Women's Middle and High School / Korea Times illustration by Shin Dong-jun

"You have to go to your families and say, 'I am a student now, I have to study, so let's share the housework.'"

Kim Sang-hyun, vice principal of Ilsung Women's Middle and High School, offered advice and encouragement to the students gathered in front of the platform on March 3 at Sinchon Methodist Church in western Seoul, at the school's entrance ceremony for the 2026 academic year. The women about to become middle and high school students did not dress or look like other students. They wore hanbok, traditional Korean clothing, instead of uniforms, and not one of them looked like typical teenagers worn down by a nagging parent.

Among them was 77-year-old Lee Bok-gae, who was entering middle school that morning — an adult learner, one of the women who lost their chance at school due to financial difficulties and gender inequality in education. Born the eldest of seven children, studying became an elusive dream, as she had to work while caring for her younger siblings.

That same day, her granddaughter became a middle school student, too. On her way to a different school, the girl waved and called out to her, saying, "Grandmother, you're really cool. We're both middle school students now, so let's study hard together."

"If this school didn't exist, I would have gone my whole life without ever easing the pain of being denied an education," Lee said. "I'm so grateful that even now I can run toward my dream. Teacher Lee Seon-jae, thank you so much."

The vice principal ran most of the ceremony. The rest of the responsibilities rested on Lee Seon-jae, the principal to whom Lee Bok-gae had bowed her head. He had given his whole life to women living on the margins of the education system, and people called him the "Korean Pestalozzi," after Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, the Swiss reformer who built schools for destitute children. On May 10, two months after that ceremony, he died. He was 90.

A message reading "Age is just a number" marks the stairs at Ilsung Women's Middle and High School in Seoul's Mapo District, June 25. Korea Times photo by Nam Byeong-jin

Lee Seon-jae was born in Kaesong in 1936 and fled to Seoul during the 1951 evacuation of Seoul during the 1950-53 Korean War. Neighbors helped him through university, and in 1960, he opened a night school. Around that time, he heard that Ilsung Higher Civic School, which the children of war refugees attended, had gone a year without paying its rent and was holding classes outdoors. He went to a Korean medicine doctor he knew, someone who had already helped his night school, and asked for help. The school was not shut down. That was where his life with Ilsung began.

Ten years passed. Older housewives and women factory workers began coming and going at Ilsung, a school until then attended mainly by refugees. The factory workers said they had come because reading the labels attached to clothing had made them curious about English. Their factory owners would not allow it. Pressed to choose — school or factory, one or the other — some of them stopped coming. What Lee Seon-jae built in answer was Ilsung's Sunday school, which threw its doors open on the one day the women did not report to the factory.

The lives of the women he took in followed a similar path. Money was short. In the order of who got to study, they lost out to older and younger brothers, and were sent to work in the fields and the factories instead. As adults, they married into their husbands' families, and once they gave birth, child-rearing left them no time for themselves. When they had finally sent their children to university, they took up the care of aging parents and parents-in-law. That was what duty meant then.

Students hold their breath as they watch a live broadcast of Korea's World Cup match against South Africa at Ilsung Women's Middle and High School in Seoul's Mapo District, June 25. Korea Times photo by Nam Byeong-jin

The school where the older women were welcomed was Ilsung Women's Middle and High School. It still enrolls 950 adult learners. They keep studying alongside the work that pays them — selling insurance, servicing water purifiers, cleaning buildings, working as certified care workers, keeping other people's houses.

Kim Bong-ja, 67, was one of them. She graduated from the high school division of Ilsung and is now a student at Sookmyung Women's University. The day she received her diploma, she went to her parents' graves and wept.

"Studying was my lifelong goal, and now every day feels like a dream," she said

A graduate wipes away tears during the 24th graduation ceremony of Ilsung Women's Middle School at Sinchon Church in Seoul's Mapo District, Feb. 23. Korea Times photo by Park Si-mon

She thinks often about Lee Seon-jae's soybean-sprout lesson.

"Teacher Lee used to encourage us by saying, 'When you study, there are plenty of times you forget things, but if you keep learning and learning, a moment comes when you shoot up all at once, like soybean sprouts in a sprouting pot,'" she said. "The teacher has gone on ahead of us, but his teaching will stay with me for the rest of my life."

Principal Lee Seon-jae's New Year's message fills the front page of the first edition of the school newspaper published by Ilsung Higher Civic School and Ilsung Girls' Commercial School, predecessors of today's Ilsung Women's Middle and High School, Jan. 31, 1986. Courtesy of Ilsung Women's Middle and High School

The students he opened the doors to were fiercely dedicated. Factory workers and housewives arrived so long before dawn that the school had to post a notice reading, "We open the doors at 7:30 a.m." Their zeal was a large part of why the school won recognition as an educational facility from the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education in 2000 and grew into the Ilsung Women's Middle and High School of today. Some 63,000 students have reached the dream of learning in his care.

Writings by students at Ilsung Women's Middle and High School and Yangwon Elementary School around 2007 capture the thirst for learning the women had carried for years. Courtesy of Ilsung Women's Middle and High School

Some of them came out of it with different lives altogether. Kang Hee-cheon, 68, is the clearest case. Kang spent middle school years in 1973 at Ilsung Higher Civic School, the predecessor of Ilsung Women's Middle and High School, where Lee taught abacus arithmetic.

As Kang remembers him, Lee was always strict. Lee had recruited every child in Kang's class personally. He sought out children who were poor or abandoned by their parents — children of the street — talked them into it and brought them to the school himself.

Lee Seon-jae, then a teacher at Ilsung Higher Civic School, the predecessor of Ilsung Women's Middle and High School, hands out prizes to students at a sports day the school hosted around 1970. Courtesy of Ilsung Women's Middle and High School

Lee drilled three things into his students: truthfulness, diligence and frugality. Only someone who does not deceive themselves can avoid deceiving others, he always added. Only someone who works sincerely can fulfill their use. Only someone who lives frugally can know what is precious. "Living right matters more than being smart" was his standing line, and whenever he spotted a student harboring resentment toward society and heading in a bad direction, Kang said, he went straight to the student's home and set it right.

Kang remembers him as a teacher in the old sense of the word.

"Teacher Lee Seon-jae was a mentor who lived out ahead of me, so I could learn how to live and follow even a little way behind him," Kang said. "He taught strictly, but he was the kind of person who would invent prizes that didn't exist just to spur his students on."

"Maybe he is the person who decided the course of my life," Kang said.

Kang finished Ilsung Higher Civic School under Lee, then entered university through a school-equivalency examination. Kang went on to pass the Grade 9 civil service examination, the entry-level rank, worked at the Mapo District Office and retired in 2017 as director of its safety and public administration bureau, a senior grade 4 post. Since retiring, Kang has volunteered with free meal programs for elderly people.

"I chose the civil service because I wanted to be of benefit to society, the way Teacher Lee was," Kang said. "I wanted to give back what he gave me."

Cardinal Kim Sou-hwan talks with Principal Lee Seon-jae during a visit to Ilsung Women's Middle and High School in Seoul's Mapo District in 2002. Courtesy of Ilsung Women's Middle and High School

The place Lee held open for adult learners may now disappear. In his will, he directed that the school operate only until February 2028. The Lifelong Education Act recognizes only school corporations and incorporated foundations as bodies entitled to establish a lifelong education facility, which means that once the founder steps away, the governing body has to convert into a converted entity. Conversion requires meeting a list of conditions, among them facilities and financing.

Principal Lee Seon-jae hands diplomas to students during the Ilsung Women's Middle School graduation ceremony at Sinchon Methodist Church in Seoul's Mapo District, Feb. 25. Courtesy of Ilsung Women's Middle and High School

In June, the school posted a petition on the National Assembly's website, asking lawmakers to amend the Lifelong Education Act to preserve the school's public service role, protect its students' right to learn and its teaching staff. The petition needed 50,000 signatures within a 30-day window. It did not get them, and it lapsed.

Teachers and others at the school have asked education authorities for a public model instead — entrusting operations to a public foundation, for one — but the practical obstacles are considerable. Keeping open the school Lee had protected since 1960, a place that opened learning to women who had weathered life's hardships until they put their studies aside, now falls to the people he left behind.

The school's website still carries this greeting: "We provide a true education to women who missed their chance to learn because their households were poor, or for the single reason that they were women. Please board the train of learning, shake off the frustration and the sorrow you could never tell anyone, and enjoy a bright and lively happiness."

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.

一城女子中学及高中校长李善宰毕生致力于教育失学女性及其他学生，于5月10日逝世，享年90岁。该校目前为950名成人学生提供服务，其中包括一些一边工作一边兼顾家庭的女性。李善宰在遗嘱中指示学校仅运营至2028年2月，但为学校继续办学所做的努力却面临重重阻碍。

李在 1951 年大疏散期间逃离开城前往首尔，并于 1960 年开办了一所夜校。

2000年，该校获得首尔市教育厅颁发的教育机构资格认证。

李教授指导过的学生约有63000名。

一份要求立法者修改《终身教育法》的请愿书需要在 30 天内收集到 5 万个签名，但由于未能达到该门槛而失效。

金奉子毕业于日城高中部，目前是淑明女子大学的学生。

发布于2026年11月1日凌晨12:10（韩国标准时间）

自1960年以来，韩国女性一直被剥夺受教育的权利。

李善载，已故日星女子中学及高中校长 / 《韩国时报》插图，申东俊

“你应该跟家里人说，‘我现在是学生了，我要学习，所以我们一起分担家务吧。’”

3月3日，在首尔西部新村卫理公会教堂举行的2026学年新生入学典礼上，日星女子中学副校长金相铉向聚集在讲台前的学生们致辞鼓励。这些即将成为初高中学生的女生们穿着打扮与普通学生截然不同。她们身着韩服——韩国传统服饰，而非校服，而且没有一个看起来是那种被父母唠叨得筋疲力尽的典型青少年。

其中一位是77岁的李福佳，那天早上她要进入中学学习——她是一位成年学生，也是众多因经济困难和教育中的性别不平等而失去受教育机会的女性之一。作为家中七个孩子中的老大，她一边工作一边照顾弟弟妹妹，学习对她来说成了遥不可及的梦想。

就在同一天，她的孙女也成为了一名初中生。在去另一所学校的路上，小女孩向她挥手喊道：“奶奶，你真酷！我们现在都是初中生了，让我们一起努力学习吧！”

“如果没有这所学校，我这辈子都无法摆脱被剥夺受教育机会的痛苦，”李同学说。“我很感激，即使现在我还能朝着梦想奔跑。李善宰老师，非常感谢您。”

副校长主持了大部分仪式。其余的职责都落在了李善宰校长身上，李福桂曾向他低头致意。他毕生致力于帮助那些被边缘化的女性，人们称他为“韩国的裴斯泰洛齐”，这个称号源于瑞士改革家约翰·海因里希·裴斯泰洛齐，他为贫困儿童创办了学校。仪式两个月后的5月10日，他去世了，享年90岁。

6月25日，首尔麻浦区日星女子中学台阶上醒目地展示着“年龄只是个数字”的标语。韩国时报 南炳镇摄

李善载1936年出生于开城，1951年朝鲜战争期间，他随家人逃往首尔。邻居们资助他完成了大学学业，1960年，他开办了一所夜校。大约在同一时期，他听说一所专门招收战争难民子女的高等公民学校——日星高等公民学校——已经一年没有交房租，只能在户外上课。他找到一位认识的韩医——这位医生之前曾帮助过他的夜校——寻求帮助。学校最终得以幸免于难。李善载与日星高等公民学校的故事就此展开。

十年过去了。一些上了年纪的家庭主妇和女工开始频繁出入日星学校。此前，这所学校主要招收难民学生。女工们说，她们来这里是因为阅读衣服上的标签激发了她们对英语的兴趣。但她们的工厂老板不允许她们学习英语。被迫在学校和工厂之间做出选择——二者择一——一些人便不再来上学了。为了解决这个问题，李善宰创办了日星学校，在女工们不用去工厂上班的那一天，学校敞开大门。

他收留的那些女性的人生轨迹都大同小异。家境拮据。在子女的受教育权排序上，她们总是输给哥哥姐姐和弟弟妹妹，被迫下地干活或去工厂里劳作。成年后，她们嫁入夫家，生儿育女后，便无暇顾及自己。等到子女终于上了大学，她们又要承担起赡养年迈父母和公婆的责任。这就是当时所谓的“责任”。

6月25日，在首尔麻浦区日星女子中学，学生们屏息凝神地观看韩国队与南非队的世界杯比赛直播。（韩国时报 南炳镇 摄）

这些年长女性被接纳的学校是日星女子中学。这所学校至今仍有950名成年学生。她们一边工作赚钱，一边继续学习——卖保险、维修净水器、清洁楼宇、担任持证护理员、照看别人的房子等等。

67岁的金奉子就是其中之一。她毕业于日城高中部，目前就读于淑明女子大学。拿到毕业证书那天，她去了父母的墓前痛哭。

“学习是我毕生的目标，现在每一天都像做梦一样，”她说。

2月23日，在首尔麻浦区新村教堂举行的日星女子中学第24届毕业典礼上，一名毕业生拭去泪水。（韩国时报 朴时文 摄）

她经常想起李善宰教她的豆芽课。

“李老师过去常鼓励我们说，‘学习的时候，你会经常忘记东西，但只要坚持学习，总有一天你会像豆芽在发芽锅里一样，突然突飞猛进，’”她说。“老师虽然已经先我们一步离开了，但他的教诲将伴随我一生。”

1986年1月31日，李善载校长的新年致辞刊登在日城高等公民学校和日城女子商业学校（现日城女子中学的前身）创刊号的校报头版。图片由日城女子中学提供。

他敞开大门招收的学生们都无比勤奋。工厂工人和家庭主妇们天还没亮就来上学，以至于学校不得不贴出告示：“早上7:30开门”。正是他们的这份热情，使得这所学校在2000年获得了首尔市教育厅的教育机构认证，并发展成为如今的日星女子中学。在他的悉心教导下，已有约63000名学生实现了求学的梦想。

2007年前后，日城女子中学和阳元小学学生的习作，展现了她们多年来对知识的渴望。图片由日城女子中学提供。

有些人从此过上了截然不同的生活。68岁的姜熙天就是最明显的例子。1973年，姜熙天在日城高等公民学校（日城女子中学的前身）读中学，当时李老师在那里教珠算术。

据康回忆，李老师一直很严格。康班上的每个孩子都是李老师亲自招募的。他专门寻找那些贫困或被父母遗弃的孩子——街头流浪儿——说服他们入学，然后亲自把他们带到学校。

大约在1970年，李善宰（Lee Seon-jae）——当时是日城高等公民学校（日城女子中学的前身）的一名教师——在学校举办的运动会上给学生颁奖。图片由日城女子中学提供。

李老师向学生们灌输三点：诚实、勤奋和节俭。他常说，只有不自欺欺人的人才能避免欺骗他人；只有认真工作的人才能发挥自身价值；只有节俭生活的人才能懂得珍惜。“正直比聪明更重要”是他的口头禅。康说，每当他发现有学生心怀怨恨、误入歧途时，他都会直接去学生家里，纠正他们的错误观念。

康记得他是一位传统意义上的老师。

康同学说：“李善宰老师是我的良师益友，他走在我前面，让我能够学习如何生活，即使我落后他一点，也能追随他的脚步。他教导很严格，但他会为了激励学生而设立一些根本不存在的奖项。”

“或许是他决定了我的人生轨迹，”康说道。

康在李的指导下毕业于日城高等公民学校，之后通过同等学历考试进入大学。他随后通过了九级公务员考试（入门级），在麻浦区政府工作，并于2017年以四级公务员（安全与公共行政局局长）的身份退休。退休后，康一直积极参与为老年人提供免费餐食的志愿活动。

康先生说：“我选择公务员是因为我想像李老师一样为社会做出贡献。我想回报他给予我的一切。”

2002年，金秀焕枢机主教访问首尔麻浦区日星女子中学时，与校长李善载交谈。图片由日星女子中学提供。

李先生为成人学习者开辟的这片天地如今可能不复存在。他在遗嘱中指示，学校仅运营至2028年2月。终身教育法只承认学校法人和注册基金会才有资格设立终身教育机构，这意味着一旦创始人离世，管理机构就必须转型为此类实体。转型需要满足一系列条件，其中包括设施和资金。

2月25日，在首尔麻浦区新村卫理公会教堂举行的伊尔星女子中学毕业典礼上，校长李善宰向学生们颁发毕业证书。图片由伊尔星女子中学提供。

今年6月，该校在国民议会网站上发起请愿，请求议员修改《终身教育法》，以维护学校的公共服务职能，保障学生的受教育权和教职员工的权益。请愿书需要在30天内收集到5万个签名，但未能达到目标，最终失效。

学校的教师和其他人员已向教育部门请求采用公立模式——例如，将学校运营委托给公共基金会——但实际困难重重。李先生自1960年以来一直守护着这所学校，它曾为那些饱经生活磨难而被迫放弃学业的女性提供学习的场所，如今，维持这所学校的运转，重任落在了他身后人们的肩上。

学校网站上仍然保留着这段问候语：“我们为那些因家境贫寒或仅仅因为身为女性而错失学习机会的女性提供真正的教育。请登上学习的列车，摆脱那些你永远无法向任何人倾诉的沮丧和悲伤，享受光明而充满活力的幸福生活。”

本文来自《韩国日报》（《韩国时报》的姊妹报），由人工智能生成系统翻译，并由《韩国时报》编辑。