A school register bearing records of Korean War service. [North Gyeongsang Provincial Office of Education]
A school register bearing records of Korean War service. [North Gyeongsang Provincial Office of Education]

The North Gyeongsang Provincial Office of Education announced Friday that it had completed a full survey of school registers at middle and high schools across the province, confirming the wartime service of 1,766 student soldiers — the first such comprehensive verification in the country.

The office reviewed 79,372 school register entries from 202 middle and high schools in the province that opened before 1955, with the survey running since June.

After cross-referencing birth dates, home schools and other details to eliminate duplicate entries across school levels, the office confirmed 1,766 student soldiers at 92 schools.

Separate enlistment records were also found, including a "Korean War enlistment register" at Pohang Middle School and an "enlistment school register" at Yeongju Agricultural High School.

At Uiseong Industrial Middle School — now Uiseong Unitech High School — records showed that all 14 graduates in the third-year civil engineering class and 16 of 17 students in the textile class had enlisted.

Similar records of multiple students from a single class enlisting were found at Gimcheon Agricultural and Forestry Middle School and Andong Agricultural and Forestry Middle School.

Based on the concentration of enlistment records within specific classes and oral testimony from 28 surviving student soldiers, the education office believes many students enlisted together out of a sense of solidarity.

A graduation certificate issued by Andong Agricultural and Forestry High School under orders from superiors and by the authority of the school principal. [North Gyeongsang Provincial Office of Education]
A graduation certificate issued by Andong Agricultural and Forestry High School under orders from superiors and by the authority of the school principal. [North Gyeongsang Provincial Office of Education]

Female students were also found among those who served. Five were identified in total — two from Gimcheon Girls' Middle School, one from Sangju Girls' Middle School, one from Gimcheon Girls' High School and one from Pohang Girls' High School.

No records detail what roles they performed in combat. Their school registers listed entries such as "accompanied the military," "served as an active-duty soldier" and "enlisted in the military."

The North Gyeongsang education office is currently investigating the number of those killed in action among the student soldiers, as well as the number of survivors, estimated at around 35.

Records also surfaced showing that schools at the time tried to recognize the academic standing of students whose studies had been interrupted by the war.

Those records include notations such as "diploma awarded to students serving in the military per Ministry of Education directive," "course completion for the relevant year granted by order of the governor" and "graduation recognized by decision of the school principal."

The education office believes the actual number of student soldiers is likely higher, as some enlistments were never recorded in school registers and others were lost to the war or other disasters.

"The school registers hold the dedication of students who left their classrooms for the battlefield 75 years ago, and the pain of that war," North Gyeongsang Provincial Superintendent of Education Im Jong-sik said. "We will work to find and preserve more records so that student soldiers receive the recognition and honors they deserve."


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