South Korea is expected to record fewer than 300,000 elementary school entrants in 2027 for the first time, as the country’s low birth rate reshapes its education system. The cohort born in 2020 numbers 272,337, 10% below the 302,676 children born in 2019, who entered school this year. The milestone comes three years after enrollment fell below 400,000 in 2024. Next year’s cohort would be about one-quarter of the 1,055,632 children who entered elementary school in 1968. Births fell to 230,028 in 2023, although they rose to 238,317 in 2024 and 254,341 in 2025. The shrinking student population is expected to intensify school closures and consolidation outside the greater Seoul area, deepen regional education disparities and potentially encourage families to move to the capital region. The government plans to remove the link between local education grants and national tax revenue and redirect the resulting funds to early childhood, higher and lifelong education.