How to Report a Lifelong Education Facility — Requirements for Distance and Knowledge/Human Resource Development Facilities and the 10-Day Processing Period

Procedure

1. 1. Check whether you must report a distance lifelong education facility

   Anyone may provide lifelong education through information and communication media, but a facility that charges tuition and provides video or internet lectures to 10 or more unspecified learners through a course of 30 hours or more must be reported to the superintendent of education. If it falls under a school-subject tutoring academy teaching elementary, middle or high school subjects, it is excluded from this report and follows the academy registration procedure. A distance university-type facility recognized for university-level academic background or degrees requires authorization from the Minister of Education.

2. 2. Check the requirements for affiliated and knowledge/human resource development facilities

   A workplace-affiliated facility is established by the operator of a workplace with 100 or more employees for its customers and others, and a civic group-affiliated facility is established by a group that is a corporation, is registered with the competent authority, or has 300 or more members. A media-affiliated facility may be established by publishers of registered daily, weekly or internet newspapers or monthly magazines, and by broadcasting or news agency corporations. A knowledge/human resource development facility may be established only by a corporation with at least 1 year of business record in education and training, research services, development of teaching and learning programs and similar businesses and capital or assets of 300,000,000 won or more, and the civic group, media and knowledge/human resource development types must also have at least 1 professional dedicated to running lifelong education programs.

3. 3. Founder disqualifications and lifelong educator placement

   Persons under adult or limited guardianship, persons for whom 3 years have not passed since a sentence of imprisonment without labor or heavier was completed or exempted, persons in a period of suspended sentence, and persons for whom 3 years have not passed since an authorization or registration was revoked or a lifelong education course was closed cannot be founders, and the same applies to a corporation with such a person among its officers. A lifelong education facility must have at least 1 lifelong educator, and a copy of the lifelong educator certificate is attached to the report.

4. 4. Prepare the operating rules and submit the report

   The operating rules state the name, purpose and location, curriculum and capacity, admission, withdrawal, completion, rewards and penalties, course period and holidays, and tuition. Attach the operating rules, location map, facility layout, list of facilities and equipment, copy of the lifelong educator certificate, inventory of assets and supporting documents and others to the Lifelong Education Facility Report and submit it to the competent superintendent of education; the processing body on the form is the lifelong education department of the metropolitan or provincial office of education. The processing period is 10 days with no fee, and if the requirements are met you receive a lifelong education facility report certificate.

5. 5. Change report, succession and closure notice

   To change the name, location, curriculum, tuition, facilities and equipment, or lifelong educator, file the Lifelong Education Facility Change Report with documents for each change with the superintendent of education, and receive a new report certificate if the name or location changes. A person taking over the founder's status files a succession report with a handover document and others. To close the facility, notify the superintendent of education at least 30 days before the planned closure date with a document stating the reason, the closure date and how remaining affairs will be handled.

Required documents

• Lifelong Education Facility Report (Enforcement Rule of the Lifelong Education Act, Form No. 14)
• Operating rules
• Location map and facility layout
• List of facilities and equipment
• Copy of the lifelong educator certificate
• Articles of incorporation and a copy of the minutes of the general meeting or board meeting on establishment (if the founder is a corporation)
• Inventory of assets and supporting documents, and a copy of the jeonse or lease contract if the facility is owned by another person
• Letter of authorization (when filed by an agent)

Fees

Industry range of several hundred thousand won to several million won · We provide a quote after consultation, depending on the facility type (distance, workplace, civic group or media-affiliated, or knowledge/human resource development), the scope of drafting operating rules and curricula, and whether it is a change report. Government fees are separate.

See fees and official charges for this service →

Legal basis and review date

• Lifelong Education Act, Article 2
• Lifelong Education Act, Article 26
• Lifelong Education Act, Article 28
• Lifelong Education Act, Article 33
• Lifelong Education Act, Article 35
• Lifelong Education Act, Article 36
• Lifelong Education Act, Article 37
• Lifelong Education Act, Article 38
• Lifelong Education Act, Article 38-2
• Lifelong Education Act, Article 42
• Lifelong Education Act, Article 46
• Enforcement Decree of the Lifelong Education Act, Article 48
• Enforcement Decree of the Lifelong Education Act, Article 49
• Enforcement Decree of the Lifelong Education Act, Article 49-2
• Enforcement Decree of the Lifelong Education Act, Article 64
• Enforcement Decree of the Lifelong Education Act, Article 65
• Enforcement Decree of the Lifelong Education Act, Article 66
• Enforcement Decree of the Lifelong Education Act, Article 67
• Enforcement Decree of the Lifelong Education Act, Annex 2
• Enforcement Decree of the Lifelong Education Act, Annex 3
• Enforcement Decree of the Lifelong Education Act, Annex 9
• Enforcement Rule of the Lifelong Education Act, Article 17
• Enforcement Rule of the Lifelong Education Act, Article 17-2
• Enforcement Rule of the Lifelong Education Act, Form No. 14

Checked against the statutes on 2026-10-08

Statutes and public notices change, so each case needs to be checked individually. Statute titles are given in English for reference. The Korean statutes are the authoritative text.

Check these first

• If a learner gives up the course voluntarily, tuition must be refunded, and for non-real-time distance education such as recorded lectures, the refund is the tuition paid minus the portion for the sessions actually taken. Failure to refund is subject to a fine for negligence.
• Operating with reported details changed without a change report may lead to closure of the lifelong education course or suspension of operation for up to 1 year.

Frequently asked questions