A school register bearing a notation indicating military service. [North Gyeongsang Provincial Office of Education]
A school register bearing a notation indicating military service. [North Gyeongsang Provincial Office of Education]

More than 600 records linked to student soldiers believed to have fought in the Korean War have been newly identified in North Gyeongsang Province.

The North Gyeongsang Provincial Office of Education said Wednesday that an ongoing comprehensive survey of school registers — launched in April under the title "Student Soldier Footprints School Register Survey" — had turned up 615 records presumed to document student participation in the war.

The education office said it first took notice of the issue while digitizing school registers as part of a project begun in 2022. A large number of students were found to have been expelled around 1950, and some registers contained the notation "hakbyeong," or student soldier.

After cases were confirmed in which actual wartime service had been recorded, the office launched the full survey to shed new light on the history of student soldiers through official documentation, rather than relying solely on personal memory.

The survey covers 121 schools in the province — middle schools that opened before 1951 and high schools that opened before 1953. To date, the office has reviewed 15,132 school register entries from 32 high schools.

The investigation has revealed not only the fact of students' participation in the war but also the wide range of roles they played during the conflict.

The registers examined contain entries such as "enlisted by conscription," "responded to call-up," "student soldier," "student volunteer corps member," "accompanied troops," "discharged with wounds," "honorably discharged," and "returned to school and graduated while on active service" — all attesting to students' involvement in the war.

Particularly striking were entries in some registers that specified students' exact duties. One record noted that a student served as a "Columbia interpreter and communications aide attached to the 31st Regiment of the US Army's 7th Infantry Division."

The term used in the original record refers to interpretation and communication support work.

Middle and high school students of the era supported the war effort in a wide range of capacities beyond combat — drafting military documents, writing letters on behalf of others, carrying messages, and assisting with interpretation.

Records attesting to the horrors of war were also found. The register from Pohang High School contained entries reading "abdominal penetrating wound sustained at the front" and "many absences due to war injury."

At Cheongsaeng Life Sciences High School — formerly Gimcheon Agricultural and Forestry Middle School — entries included "returned to school during service; graduated despite insufficient credit hours" and "enrollment was based on false information; expelled," offering a vivid glimpse of the era.

Cases of female students serving alongside troops were also discovered. The register from Gimcheon Girls' Middle School contained entries reading "served as active-duty military personnel" and "enlisted in the military," while a register from Sangju Girls' Middle School included the notation "accompanied troops."

The education office said it expects additional student soldier records to emerge as the full survey is completed.

"The brief words written in these school registers are historical records that show us the frozen moment in time of boys whose lives stopped 75 years ago," North Gyeongsang Provincial Superintendent of Education Im Jong-sik said. "By calling out each of the names left behind, one by one, we will ensure that the sacrifice and devotion of those forgotten boys are remembered and passed on to future generations."


kbj7653@heraldcorp.com