Does a New Hagwon Class Need Change Registration in Korea?
BySangjin Ji, Administrative Attorney3 years of embassy visa practiceLinkedIn
An acting academy was suspended for 45 days because it ran dance and vocal classes without registering them and changed its fee structure without registering the change. The academy said the classes were all part of preparing students for acting admissions. The court upheld the suspension.
Suppose you run a private academy (a "hagwon") in Korea and open a new class for students preparing for the same exam. You see it as a supplement to your registered course, and you use the same classroom. Then the district education office sends a notice: you operated a course that is not on your registration, you did not register a change in your fees, and there is a problem with your ledger. The two questions you would ask are the ones this case answers. Does a class for the same exam need its own registration? And if one class costs less per month, can it still be a fee violation?
The answers from the decision, in short. A shared exam goal does not make two courses one. If the decree classifies the content as a separate course, it must be registered separately. And once you change the fee structure you registered, you must register the change, regardless of whether the rate went down. The court was not looking at the name on the registration certificate. It looked at what the academy actually taught and what it actually charged.
The case is Seoul Administrative Court, July 17, 2020, Case 2019Guhap4622, and it became final. It applied the decree in force at the time, so check how the current decree classifies your own classes.
Why did an acting academy lose over dance and vocal classes?
The academy was registered as a school-subject academy with one course, "Other – Acting." It also ran exam-prep acting, preliminary acting, dance and group vocal classes, and the dance and vocal teachers were specialists in those fields.
The academy had a reason. Acting departments often assess "acting" and a separate "special skill," such as dance or singing. So the academy argued that dance and vocal classes were part of its acting course, and that adult retake students were still exam students.
The court looked at the structure of the decree at the time. The Enforcement Decree of the Hagwon Act (「학원법」, formally the Act on the Establishment and Operation of Private Teaching Institutes and Extracurricular Lessons) listed "music" and "dance" as their own course categories and put everything else under "Other." The facility requirements under Seoul's ordinance also differed between them. For that reason, unless special circumstances apply, an academy that runs "Other" together with "music" or "dance" must register each course, even when the courses share one purpose such as acting admissions.
The court accepted that dance and vocal training can be useful for acting admissions. But it held that the content falls under "music" or "dance," so it cannot be classified as "Other – Acting," and that admissions systems themselves treat "acting" and "special skill" separately.
What proved the academy ran those classes? Its attendance sheets and online ads. It had opened classes such as private vocal lessons, children's vocal, modern dance, hobby vocal and hobby dance, and some were not limited to exam students. Its website described one class as a hobby class and choreography for idol auditions. The explanation of "exam prep for acting" did not match the classes the records showed.
Age was not the issue. The court said that teaching retake students or transfer applicants who are not currently enrolled does not, by itself, take a class outside a school-subject academy's course. The problem was running a separately classified music and dance course without registering it.
Why was a lower fee still a fee change?
The fees were also at issue. The academy had registered fees on November 14, 2018: KRW 700,000 a month for exam-prep acting (up to 8 students) and KRW 580,000 for preliminary and audition acting. Later, without any change registration, it opened a private lesson (one hour a week, KRW 300,000 a month) and a one-day coupon class (one hour, KRW 80,000).
Per month, the private lesson looks cheaper. The academy argued exactly that. But the court compared the per-minute rate. The registered fees came to about KRW 256 to 261 per minute. The private lesson came to KRW 1,250 per minute, and the coupon class to about KRW 1,333.
More basically, the court held that fees are a registered item. When an operator changes registered fees, change registration is required regardless of whether the rate falls, and the operator cannot judge for itself whether the change favors learners and then choose whether to register.
A reduction is a different act. The current Enforcement Decree (Article 18(4)) allows an operator to reduce fees where operations are not harmed. Keeping the registered fees and easing a particular learner's burden is a reduction. Opening a new class with a new schedule, class size and rate is a change. To tell which one you have, match three documents: the fee details registered with the education office, the fee notice and enrollment form you gave students, and the actual payment records.
How three violations became a 45-day suspension
The district education office cited three violations: an unregistered fee change, operating a course that was not registered, and inaccurate ledger (receipt) entries. Under Seoul's rules at the time, they carried 10, 35 and 5 points, a total of 50. Under Seoul's ordinance, the 46 to 50 point range allowed a suspension of up to 45 days. The office issued the sanction on June 19, 2019, for July 5 to August 18.
The operator sued, arguing the violations did not exist, that the sanction was too heavy for minor matters that came up during a noise complaint, and that other academies were treated more leniently. The court rejected these arguments. It found the course and fee violations, and the academy did not dispute the ledger violation, so those 5 points counted too. It treated the point rules as internal discretionary standards that were not unconstitutional or clearly unreasonable and that the sanction stayed within. That the office had been less strict with other academies, or began checking because of a complaint, did not make a lawful sanction unlawful.
The lesson is to separate each ground. Fixing one violation does not remove the others, and each is added to the total. Decide which facts you accept and which you contest, and what documents support each.
The points above were Seoul's standard in 2019. Do not apply them directly to a notice you receive now.
Suspension and revocation are not the same
Under Article 17(1) of the Hagwon Act, the Superintendent of Education may revoke an academy's registration, or order a suspension of instruction for up to one year for all or part of its courses. Suspension stops teaching for a set period. Revocation ends the registration itself. If registration was obtained by false or other improper means (item 1), the law says revocation is required. Most other grounds, such as operating without change registration (item 6), leave the choice to the authority.
Seoul's ordinance sets ranges by total points: 31 to 35 points is a 7-day suspension, 36 to 40 is 14 days, 41 to 45 is 30 days, 46 to 50 is 45 days, 51 to 55 is 60 days, 56 to 60 is 75 days, 61 to 65 is 90 days, and 66 or more is revocation. Points from several violations are added together. If you received points for the same violation within the past two years, the repeat counts, and the two years run from the day after the same date two years before the new violation to the day it was found. For improper registration (item 1), the ordinance requires revocation regardless of points.
How are suspension days counted? In Interpretation 26-0495, dated September 3, 2026, the Ministry of Government Legislation said that days the academy listed as holidays in its rules are not excluded from the suspension period.
What to check first on a notice in Seoul
Seoul's ordinance sets the total-point ranges, and Seoul's education regulation (in force since October 8, 2026) sets the points for each violation in its Annex 4. If your notice lists both an unregistered course and an unregistered fee change, check in this order:
- The deadline for your response. Everything is prepared around this date.
- Which item of Article 17(1) the notice cites. Item 1 or item 6 makes a difference for revocation.
- The points for each violation in Annex 4 of Seoul's regulation, added together.
- The range your total falls in, and any sanction for the same violation in the last two years.
Can fixing the problem reduce the suspension?
Suppose you have fixed the ledger and registered the changes the office raised. The violation itself does not disappear. In Seoul, though, fixing can be a ground for reduction. Seoul's education regulation (Article 21(2)) allows the head of the district education office, considering the effect on learners and the violation, to reduce or adjust a sanction in two cases: when the problem is fixed during the period for submitting a response, or when a sanction would cause serious harm to learners because of an imminent qualifying or school exam. A suspension can be reduced by up to half its days, and a revocation can be changed to a suspension of at least 90 days. Both rules say "may," so meeting a condition does not guarantee a reduction.
Timing matters. The first ground requires the fix to be finished during the response period. A plan to register a change later is not the same as having registered it. Keep a record of which ledger or fee notice was wrong and the date you corrected it. For the exam ground, you need the exam date, the role of the course in preparing for it, and how the suspension overlaps with the schedule.
Can you close the academy and register again?
After advance notice, you cannot file to close. Article 10(4) of the Hagwon Act bars a notice of closure from the time of the advance notice under the Administrative Procedures Act until the sanction is final. Closing would not end the procedure in any case.
Re-registering is also limited in two layers. First, disqualification: a person whose registration was revoked less than a year ago, or who is within a suspension period, cannot register a hagwon (Article 9(1), items 6 and 6-2; for a corporation, this includes its representative). This applies whatever the place or course. Second, refusal: the Superintendent may refuse registration of the same course at the same place within a year of revocation or during a suspension (Article 6(6)). Article 9(2) also says a registration loses its effect when the operator becomes disqualified.
What happens after advance notice?
Check first whether you are at the advance-notice stage or after a final sanction. Under Article 21 of the Administrative Procedures Act, the notice states the ground, the proposed sanction and its legal basis, how to submit your response, and the deadline, which must be set considering at least 10 days.
A response before the decision differs from a hearing. Under Article 20 of the Hagwon Act, a hearing is held before revoking a hagwon's registration. A suspension is not on that list, so it proceeds with the chance to submit a response. If a hearing is held, notice is due at least 10 days before it starts. In Seoul, the district office must issue the sanction within 10 days after completing the notice, hearing and response procedures, so gather documents from the day the notice arrives.
After a final suspension, check its effective date and your appeal rights. An administrative appeal must be filed within 90 days of learning of the sanction, and not after 180 days from the sanction, with exceptions set by law. An appeal does not by itself stop the sanction (Article 30(1) of the Administrative Appeals Act); a stay of execution can be requested where serious harm must be prevented urgently.
What happens to tuition already paid?
A suspension affects students and parents too. Under Article 18 of the Hagwon Act and Article 18 of the Enforcement Decree, if registration is revoked or a suspension order is received, tuition must be refunded under Annex 4 within 5 days of the date the reason arises.
Annex 4 works like this: take the amount already paid, then subtract the daily rate multiplied by the days from the start of instruction up to the day before teaching became impossible. As a simplified example, with a 30-day course at KRW 600,000, if teaching starts on day 1 and becomes impossible from day 11, ten days of teaching are worth KRW 200,000 and KRW 400,000 is refunded. Actual cases depend on how the course period and days are counted, so check the enrollment form, payment record and attendance record.
Not refunding can bring an administrative fine of up to KRW 3 million under Article 23(1) of the Hagwon Act, starting at KRW 500,000 for a partial refund or KRW 1 million for no refund, and rising with repeat violations.
New in 2026: tests for young children
Since October 1, 2026, Article 12-2 of the Hagwon Act bars hagwon from giving young children a test or assessment to recruit them or place them in levels. The Enforcement Decree (Article 11) includes written, oral, practical and interview formats, assessments based on results of ability tests or career records, and any assessment that ranks ability for recruiting or placement. A "level test" or a "consultation" is judged by its actual purpose and method.
Only a diagnosis after enrollment is allowed: an observation or interview done with the guardian's prior consent to support learning, during teaching, written up as a description without scores, rankings or pass/fail. A violation is a ground on which revocation or suspension may be ordered (Article 17(1), item 6-2), and it applies only to tests given on or after October 1, 2026. It also carries an administrative fine of KRW 1 million, 2 million or 3 million for a first, second or third offence.
Do the same grounds apply to tutoring studios?
The Ministry of Government Legislation addressed this in Interpretation 26-0472, dated October 13, 2026. Article 17(1), item 9 makes false or exaggerated advertising when recruiting learners a ground for sanctioning a hagwon. The sections on tutoring studios and individual tutors have no such item, only a general ground for violating the Act or its orders. The Ministry's answer was that this general ground cannot be used to suspend a tutoring studio or individual tutor for advertising, because a sanction needs a basis in law. For a hagwon, advertising remains a ground under item 9. If you run a studio, read which provision the notice cites.
What you can check yourself, and what an Administrative Attorney can prepare
You can begin with the advance notice: the violations, the provisions, the proposed sanction and the response deadline. Then set documents side by side. If the issue is the course, compare your registration certificate with your timetable, attendance sheets, student materials and ads. If it is fees, compare the registered fee details with your fee notices, enrollment forms and payment records. If a ledger was cited, find which ledger and which entry. If you have already fixed something, write down what you did and on which date.
Some points are hard to judge alone: which course category your class belongs to (by content, not by course name), adding up points and counting the past two years, and showing that your fix fell inside the response period.
Within what the law allows, an Administrative Attorney at Ethos Administrative Attorney Office can compare the notice, the registration certificate and your operating records and set out the facts they show; compare registered and actual course content and decide what goes into the response; compare registered fees with the hours and payment records of the classes you ran and set out how the fee changed; separate the evidence by ground when several violations are cited; and organize the fix date and exam schedule for Seoul's reduction grounds. This work and any filing the law permits are done within an agreed scope. Whether to reduce a suspension or revoke a registration is decided by the authority, and roles that require statutory power of representation, such as representing a party in administrative appeals or lawsuits, are distinct and depend on the law.
Common questions
Q. If a class prepares for the same exam, can I skip registering it separately?
A. In this decision, content that the decree at the time classified as "music" or "dance" had to be registered separately from "Other – Acting," unless special circumstances applied. Check how the current decree classifies your class.
Q. Does a class with a lower fee still need change registration?
A. Yes. The court held that changing registered fees creates a duty to register the change regardless of whether the rate falls. Reducing fees without changing the registered structure is a separate matter under Article 18(4) of the Enforcement Decree.
Q. If I close the academy after receiving advance notice, will the sanction go away?
A. No. From advance notice until the sanction is final, a notice of closure cannot be filed (Article 10(4) of the Hagwon Act).
Q. Are the holidays I listed in my academy rules excluded from the suspension period?
A. No. In Interpretation 26-0495 (September 3, 2026), the Ministry of Government Legislation held that holidays listed in the academy rules are not excluded from the suspension period.
If you have received an advance notice, send the notice and your registration certificate, plus any timetable, attendance sheets, fee notices or payment records you already hold, and Ethos Administrative Attorney Office will tell you in a free preliminary review whether you are at the advance-notice stage, whether the issue is the course or the fees, and what to prepare first within the response period; drafting a response and any filing the law permits are done under a separately agreed scope and fee.
Three-line summary
A class for the same exam still needs its own registration if the decree classifies its content as a separate course, and changing registered fees requires change registration even when the rate falls.
Suspension stops teaching for a period and revocation ends the registration; the detailed points and reductions come from the ordinance and education regulation of the relevant province or city.
If you receive an advance notice, find the response deadline first, then set the registration certificate, timetable, attendance sheets, fee notices and payment records side by side to decide which facts to accept and which to explain.