ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Firstly, I want to acknowledge all of the faculty, staff, students, and parents who have been a part of SFS during the past decade. For a time, our lives intersected together and we were SFS! There is no doubt in my mind that the last ten years at SFS have been significant to the positive direction and future of our school, and all of us have contributed to this part of the school’s history.

Secondly, I want to thank the school for allowing me to participate in the 110th anniversary celebrations by writing this chapter. I hope that my institutional knowledge and experiences at SFS will provide a perspective on the past ten years that people will find interesting and relevant (now and in the future). I am proud to be a student and teacher alumnus of SFS. It is a great blessing and privilege to be able to live out my vocation as an educator in this community.

Thirdly, a special thanks to the Head of School Colm Flanagan and Assistant Head of School for Academics Jan-Mark Seewald, Board Chair Silvia Kim, SFS External Relations Yoojin Um, Juhie Suh, and Cyrielle Bazin, as well as the Sectional Principals Damian Prest, Justin Smith, Andy Freeman, Jeff Holcomb, and Nancy Le Nezet for spending time with me sharing their perspectives on the past decade.

Paul D. Rader, Author Cyrielle Bazin, Editor March, 2023

Preface

In celebration of the 75th (1987), 90th (2002), and the 100th (2012) anniversaries of Seoul Foreign School, the task was put forth to create a written historical account which captures the details and themes of the intervening epochs. The narrative and details from those accounts tell the incredible history of our school and its unique and distinct organizational mission through the years of being ‘centered in Christ’, while also providing a world class educational experience for our students. And although there is a constant identity that runs throughout SFS’ 110 year history, as the 100th anniversary chapter author Esther Myong noted, it is clear that our school is also a “constantly changing, evolving, and dynamic place”. As an international school, our sole existence is anchored in a transitory world where students, teachers, and administrators come and go, which is why it is important to document and remember our history; so that we may honor the past while also shaping our future.

As we have reached and have now passed the 110 year (2022) anniversary of the school (it is March 2023 as I am writing this), the time has come again to capture the significant details, changes, and themes of the 2012-2022 epoch. It will be impossible to include everything, and I’m sure there will be important things missed! However, I will do my best as an alumnus (1989-2004), former teacher (High School English from 2014-2019), and current administrator (Director of Sports 2019 to present) to bring my institutional knowledge and perspective to this past decade and how it fits into the greater narrative of SFS’ history.

The chapter on 1912-1987 was titled A History. 1988-2002 was titled, The Story Continues. 2002-2012 was titled, A Decade Leading Up to the Centennial. I have titled this chapter for 2012-2022 “New Foundations for the Future”, as it captures the idea and significance of the changes at SFS and connotes the progress and bright future for our school. Anyone reading this chapter is also encouraged to read the previous accounts of the school’s history found in the commemorative Centennial Book, 100 Years of Excellence, for a fuller picture of our school and its history.

CONTEXT OF KOREAN AND WORLD EVENTS (2012-2022)

Long term and short term Seoul residents know that everything in Korea exists in a constant state of flux, whether it is a new coffee shop in the neighborhood (probably a Starbucks), a new shopping center (probably a Starfield), or a new international school (probably a licensee branch of a stateside prep school). That being said, one can always rely on the constants of Korea that do not change: the deeply held Confucian societal values, the importance of education, and the national work ethic. And of course, the true monument of Seoul: Chicago Pizza (and its baked spaghetti - if you know, you know), which seems to weather all the changes in Korea.

Impact of Global Events 2012-2022

Although a foreign entity in Korea, the history of SFS and the country have always been deeply intertwined, and the school has had to navigate the opportunities and challenges of local events. This past decade has seen its fair share of local and international events that have directly impacted our school.

On the morning of April 16 2014, the nation was shocked to watch the country’s worst maritime disaster unfold on live television when the Sewol Ferry sank, leading to the deaths of over 300 passengers, including 250 students from Danwon High School in Ansan. At the time, the cause and true impact of the disaster were unknown, and for those who were here in Korea and saw the images of the capsized and half-submerged vessel, this tragedy will not soon be forgotten. The country entered a period of national mourning, which turned to outrage as information emerged of negligence and corruption within the ferry company, as well as within the Korean government under President Park Geun-hye. During the period of mourning, all public celebratory activities were halted and all student trips were canceled. SFS and the international school community in Korea mourned alongside the Korean nation and watched in amazement as millions of people spoke out in a unified democratic voice demanding justice. These protests made global news as hundreds of thousands gathered in the downtown Gwanghwamun area under candlelight vigils.

Since the 1950s, the political tensions between North and South Korea have sometimes played out in a way that directly impacted our school. In 2011, Kim Jong Un became the new leader of North Korea, ushering in an understandable amount of uncertainty over his new leadership compared to his father Kim Jong Il’s. In October 2014, tensions flared when North and South Korean troops engaged in skirmishes at the border over South Korean activists who had launched balloons containing propaganda leaflets. Shortly after, North Korea sent their own leaflet balloons into South Korea. By chance of the wind and the campus elevation, SFS became the landing site for a number of North Korean propaganda pamphlets which rained down from the sky and littered the campus. That evening, eager social studies teachers were seen scouring the woods looking for these unique examples of modern cold war propaganda to share with their students.

Each spring usually sees minor incidents with North Korea when the US and ROK forces conduct their annual combined military exercises. This saberrattling has become a normal part of life in Korea and very rarely seems to register into the day-to-day lives of residents in Seoul. Larger incidents related to North Korea’s nuclear missile program garner international attention and have led to some unprecedented historical events. In 2017, Kim Jong Un threatened to send a nuclear missile to the island of Guam. While this was an unlikely action, the threat and subsequent impact on tensions in the region led to the cancellation of the SFS High School cross country team’s trip to Guam for an international race. In 2018, former US President Trump became the first sitting president to meet with a North Korean leader when he met Kim Jong Un at Panmunjom to discuss denuclearization. While the situation is now relatively “stable”, these events are a constant reminder to the SFS community that this is a country at war, and that political destabilization in the region due to larger world political and geopolitical events are always a potential risk factor for the school.

Although not “events” per se, SFS has also had to contend with the impact of the deteriorating air quality on the peninsula and other weather related phenomena. Since the early 2000s, there have been days in the spring season with high levels of yellow dust called “hwang sa”, which have led to early dismissals or school cancellations. While disconcerting, these are relatively infrequent and are the result of a natural occurrence of seasonal winds blowing the yellow dust down from the Gobi desert in Manchuria. However, in the past ten years, the air quality situation in Korea has certainly deteriorated, and the occurrence of fine dust particles in the air called “misae munji” has become regular. The causes of the increase in fine dust are debated, but in 2017, NASA and NIER released a study that determined that almost 50% of the particulate matter came from outside of the country.

There are now neighborhood monitors all over the country, and apps such as AirVisual give users real time information about the air quality. SFS has even installed its own on-campus air quality reading machine, which gives a more accurate ‘real time’ reading, as opposed to the neighborhood monitors which take an average reading over a longer period of time. The impact of this in wider society is that more and more people regularly wear dust filtering masks when outside. The impact within our school is that the air quality is constantly being monitored and decisions are made daily about the ‘weather’ and whether to allow students outside for recess and activities. Each classroom is outfitted with air purifiers to help combat the dust levels inside of the buildings. There have even been days with such high levels of fine dust that schools have been advised to close for the day. In 2014, there was an infamous ‘dust’ day when the school received late guidance, around 7:45 AM, from the SMOE Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education) that school had to be ‘optional’ for students. When the email was sent, there was a visible exodus of the high school students going down the hill, as they exercised their ‘option’ of attending school that day!

There have also been a few ‘Typhoon Days’ over the past decade where schools have had to close due to heavy levels of rain and flooding. In fact, the very first day of the 2022-2023 school year was canceled due to flooding in the Seoul area. After years of disruptions due to the COVID-19 virus, the school was finally ready for a ‘normal’ first day of school. Mother Nature had other plans!