Hundreds of Private Kindergartens Closed down This Year

A total of 257 private kindergartens closed down in the first four months of this year as intake dwindled due to the low birthrate.

According to the Ministry of Education, 437 private kindergartens closed down from 2017 until April this year -- 69 in 2017, 111 last year and 257 from January to April of this year.

According to a study by Lee Sam-sik at Hanyang University, the population of children aged three to five fell from 1.39 million in 2015 to 1.34 million last year.