Lee Sangil: "We can't leave dangers on children's routes to school unattended for even a day"... 'Three-hour discussion' with parents

Yongin Mayor Lee meets with about 60 high school parents to discuss concerns
Orders "immediate action," including widening school routes and installing traffic lights
"We will actively consider introducing shuttle and express buses" for students with long commutes
Seeks solutions to 30 requests from individual schools
Mayor Lee: "We will quickly address issues involving school commute safety and the educational environment"

Yongin Special City Mayor Lee Sangil met with parents of local high school students to discuss school-specific issues, including expanding safety facilities along school routes and difficulties using public transportation. He also ordered the city to expedite sidewalk-widening work along the route to Hyeonam High School and review the budget needed to expand enforcement facilities targeting illegal parking near schools.

Yongin Special City Mayor Lee Sang-il delivers remarks at a meeting with high school parents on the 9th. Photo provided by Yongin City.

On the afternoon of November 9, Mayor Lee held a three-hour meeting in the main conference room at Suji-gu Office with about 60 people, including representatives of parents at local high schools. The city and the Yongin Office of Education reviewed 30 suggestions submitted in advance, dividing them into 23 for the city and seven for the education office, and explained their findings and plans for improvement to parents at the meeting.

Parents called for improvements to school routes and expanded traffic safety facilities, dedicated areas for student drop-offs and pick-ups, stricter enforcement against illegal parking near schools, school bus services, and expanded bus routes.

In response to Hyeonam High School parents' request to widen the sidewalk along a school route, the city said it had included design costs in its 2027 budget proposal. If the budget is approved, work on the design will begin.

“Hyeonam High School also has poor public transportation, making it difficult for students to commute, so the city should actively help wherever it can,” Mayor Lee said. He instructed officials to complete the design promptly next year and include construction costs in a supplementary budget so the project could proceed sooner.

Parents of Suji High School students said illegal parking on the narrow road near the school's rear gate could make it difficult for fire engines to enter, and called for stricter enforcement and the installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV). Mayor Lee ordered officials to consider increasing the relevant budgets at the three district offices in light of demand for CCTV cameras to enforce parking rules.

Parents of Cheongdeok High School students raised concerns about the risk of accidents because some crosswalks along the route toward Dongbaek have no traffic lights. The city said that, following a recent police traffic safety review, it plans to install traffic lights at two crosswalks in the area in the first half of 2027. Mayor Lee instructed officials to check whether the planned locations match those requested by parents and provide them with details of the plan.

Yongin Special City Mayor Lee Sangil poses for a commemorative photo with parents at a high school parents' meeting on the 9th. Provided by Yongin City.

The chair of the Taeseong High School parents' association said, “We appreciate your continued attention to traffic safety around the school and improvements to the commuting environment, as you did last year. In particular, this year, officials visited the school in person, inspected the area with school staff and parents, discussed possible improvements, and followed through with actual measures. Both the school and its students are satisfied.” The chair also requested that the school's name be clearly displayed on the enforcement information board near the school and that in-ground pedestrian traffic signals be installed.

Mayor Lee instructed officials to include the wording “In front of Taeseong Middle and High School” on the information board and secure funding to install in-ground pedestrian traffic signals and audible pedestrian signal aids in the first half of 2027.

Transportation for students with long commutes was also a key topic. Parents of students at Yongin High School, Jindeok High School, Hyeonam High School and other schools said school bus services and expanded bus routes were needed for students assigned to schools far from home or who have difficulty using public transportation.

Yongin City shares the cost equally with the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education to support school bus services at 32 elementary and middle schools. For high school students, after surveying commute times and modes of transportation in August 2026, the city is also gathering more information on actual routes to school and demand for public transportation. Based on the results, it plans to consider support measures such as dedicated student shuttle buses and express buses.

After a parent of a student at Yongin Korean Foreign Language High School raised concerns that streetlights near the school were dim, Mayor Lee instructed relevant officials, “Inspect all 39 towns, townships and neighborhoods, not just the areas around schools, to identify places where streetlights are dim or residents feel unsafe, and make improvements wherever needed.”

Parents also raised a range of other issues, including improving traffic safety facilities and public transportation near schools and installing school signs.

Lee Sang-il, mayor of Yongin Special City, discusses school-specific issues and ways to improve them with parents at a high school parents' meeting on the 9th. Provided by Yongin City.

Mayor Lee urged relevant officials to inspect each location carefully and work with the office of education and police, among other relevant agencies, to develop solutions to issues at each school.

“We will address immediately any issues that can be resolved quickly, and continue communicating with schools and parents to find solutions to problems that require further review,” Mayor Lee said. “We will actively seek ways to make improvements in cooperation with the office of education, police and other relevant agencies.”

Since September, Mayor Lee has been meeting with parents of elementary and middle school students in different parts of the city. He plans to meet with parent representatives from all 198 schools, including meetings with parents from two special-education schools on November 20. A meeting with kindergarten parents is scheduled for November 25.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.