Danwon High School

Danwon High School (Korean: 단원고등학교; Hanja: 檀園高等學校) is a coeducational high school located in Danwon District, Ansan, South Korea. It is a state school, being under the authority of Gyeonggi Province's Office of Education.^[1]

Danwon High School in February 2016

The school was founded in 2005.^[2] In cooperation with The Borderless Village, a non-governmental organization, it established a multiculturalism program in 2006 and 2007.^[3] Its motto is "self-realization." As of May 2013, there were 1542 pupils at the school.

MV Sewol tragedy

Main article: Sinking of the MV Sewol

Memorials for the victims of the sinking of the MV Sewol in Danwon High School

On 16 April 2014, a ferry carrying 325 of the school's second-year class and a dozen of its teachers capsized en route from Incheon towards Jeju resulting in many fatalities and injuries.^[4]

The school was closed until 24 April when it opened only for the 75 surviving juniors; yellow ribbons were tied to the school's gate, and a shrine of flowers and hundreds of notes to the dead adorned the school's entrance.^[4] A makeshift memorial was established in a nearby basketball gymnasium, with a wall of flowers and dozens of photos of the dead and missing.^[4]

The school's vice principal, Kang Min-kyu, who had been rescued from the ferry, died by suicide a few days after the disaster.^[5]

Sister schools

• Hanseo University
• Chungwoon University
• Soonchunhyang University