Recently, the latest controversy in South Korea is school uniforms that cost over 1 million KRW (~809 USD).

On January 9, JoongAng Ilbo reported that an elementary school in Busan sent notifications of price increases for uniforms to parents. Starting this year, all students will be required to wear the new school uniforms, which costs 1.05 million KRW (~849 USD) for male students and 1.07 million KRW for female students (~865 USD). 

The male students' uniform includes a jacket, pants, and shirt while the female students' uniform includes a jacket, dress, and shirt. The optional items for male students include a bow tie costing 20,000 KRW (16.17 USD) and a cardigan for 98,000 KRW (79.25 USD). For girls, the optional items include a vest for 70,000 KRW (56.60 USD) and a cardigan for 98,000 KRW. Altogether, the price of one uniform easily exceeds 1 million KRW, which is 3 times higher than the uniforms from last year.

Parents have complained saying, "The price of one uniform exceeds 1 million KRW. Isn't it too expensive even for a private school? The price is 3 times higher than last year's uniform. Children need extra uniforms, so we need to buy at least two, also children grow fast so we need to get new ones when they grow."

In response, the school stated, "The uniforms are custom made by hand one by one. The embroidery and design are done by a famous Hanbok designer. The uniforms are each made with the heart to wish each student wealth, honor, health, and longevity."

According to the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education, the upper limit for the price of school uniforms in Busan this year, set according to the school uniform purchase system, is around 314,000 KRW (~254 USD). This is a price that has increased by about 2% compared to last year and was decided after discussions with officials from 17 metropolitan and provincial offices of education nationwide.

The controversial elementary school set a price three times higher than this, but there were no sanctions against the school. However, when parents protested, the school inspector said, "We are planning to hold a meeting on the pricing of school uniforms with parents of the school to ask for their opinions. I understand that the meeting is planned to be held in the middle of this month, as there is not much time left until school starts and the students must wear the school uniforms.”