The Seoul city government has announced that it will launch a pilot program in the second half of this year, offering free ‘Seoul Run’ online learning benefits for the second children of multi-child families with a median income of 100% or less for elementary, middle, and high school students.
‘Seoul Run’ is a representative educational welfare policy operated by the Seoul city since 2021, providing free online lectures and 1:1 mentoring to the vulnerable aged 6 to 24, who struggle with private education due to socio-economic reasons. The number of members has increased from about 9,000 when it was first introduced to approximately 34,000 currently.
The purpose of this pilot project is to alleviate the private education costs of multi-child families and improve child-rearing environments to help solve the low birth rate issues. The support targets second children or more in households residing in Seoul with three children and a median income of 100% or less. The support scale is about 700 people, and the decision on whether to expand will be based on an analysis of the project’s effectiveness.
Seoul city has continuously expanded its support, previously easing the median income standard from 50% to 60%, and including beneficiaries such as national merit holders, North Korean defector youths and their families, young caregivers, and adolescents living in child welfare facilities.
The tangible results of Seoul Run have also been confirmed. The average monthly reduction in private education costs for Seoul Run beneficiaries increased by 91,000 won from 256,000 won in 2023 to 347,000 won in 2024. The proportion of households where private education costs decreased increased from 42.1% to 52.4%.
Among those who took the college entrance exam for the 2025 academic year, 782 out of 1,154 Seoul Run students passed, with 173 of them entering major universities in Seoul and special purpose departments such as medical and pharmaceutical fields, teacher training, and military academies, marking a 41.8% increase compared to the previous year.
Seoul Run is expanding to become a nationwide program called ‘National Run’ through agreements with other local governments. After agreements with Chungcheongbuk-do and Pyeongchang-gun last December, it formed agreements with Gimpo city in February and Incheon city in April this year.
Meanwhile, to smoothly promote the pilot project for multi-child families, Seoul city signed a ‘Business Agreement for Reducing Educational Inequality’ with the Green Umbrella Child Fund on the 20th. The ceremony was attended by Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, President Hwang Young-ki of the Green Umbrella, and parents of multi-child families.
Both parties agreed to cooperate in ▲ operating the Seoul Run pilot project for multi-child families ▲ collaborating with Green Umbrella branches nationwide for the nationalization of Seoul Run ▲ supporting the business expenses.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon stated, “A child’s future should not be determined by their environment, and education must begin from a fair starting line for everyone.” He added, “We will make Seoul Run a platform of hope and a ladder of opportunity for multi-child families.”