Principal Lee Chang-su seeks new students to save Sindong Elementary School

Principal Lee Chang-su is traveling across Gangwon Province and Jeju Island to find classmates for the two remaining students at Sindong Elementary School. With only one month left before a deadline that determines if the school will close, Lee is using business cards and personal outreach to prevent the mountain village institution from disappearing.

In a small mountain village in Samcheok, Gangwon Province, there is an elementary school where the staff outnumbers the students. With only two students enrolled, Sindong Elementary School faces the threat of closure. However, in March, a remarkable principal arrived at this quiet school. After the initial joy of his first appointment as principal, Lee Chang-su felt conflicted by the news that his school might disappear. But after meeting the two children, he made an unexpected decision: he would find friends for them.

Whether his ambitious pledge can be fulfilled will be explored in this fairy-tale-like story set in a small mountain school.

“In the education community, it is often said that becoming a principal means you have ‘caught a star.’ (At the moment of appointment) I didn't think of anything; I just wondered why I had to go to Sindong Elementary School,” said Lee Chang-su, the principal of Sindong Elementary School.

While a first appointment as principal is typically a cause for celebration, Lee Chang-su was initially unable to share the news with those around him because he was burdened by the fact that he had been appointed to a school facing closure. In March 2026, the only students remaining at Sindong Elementary School were fifth-grader Si-ye and third-grader Ji-woo. However, the moment he faced the two children, his heart changed, and he promised to find them friends. With only one month remaining until the deadline that determines whether the school will close, the principal's reckless but special challenge has begun.

Having rolled up his sleeves to fulfill his promise of finding friends for the children, Principal Lee Chang-su has staked the fate of the school on a single business card. To recruit students, he travels throughout Gangwon Province and has even traveled to Jeju Island to contemplate better education. He visits any place where people gather, bowing 90 degrees to greet them and even placing his business card in congratulatory flower pots to promote the school.

From school promotion to educational consulting, the principal's day is so busy that 24 hours do not seem like enough. The program follows his sincere efforts as he runs tirelessly, wearing down the soles of his feet, to see if he can move someone's heart.

What does it mean to protect a school in a village where the number of children is dwindling? Some ask why a school with more staff than students should be preserved. But to Lee Chang-su, two students are by no means a small number. He is a teacher who meets the eyes of every single child and steps outside the classroom to show them a wider world. Following his journey, one encounters the ideal school and teacher that many have envisioned.

This cheerful operation to save a school, which began at a mountain school facing closure, hides a deep resonance that questions the reality of regional extinction and the true meaning of education.

The "Docu Insight" episode "Run! Principal Lee Chang-su" will be broadcast on KBS 1TV on Thursday, October 29, 2026, at 10 PM.

Read the original (Korean)