On 13 January 2026, the International Baccalaureate (IB) South Korea team held its annual in-person meeting with representatives from South Korean public education authorities in Seoul. The full-day gathering brought together 33 education officials and supervisors from 12 South Korean Offices of Education for in-depth dialogue, reflection and collaboration focused on the sustainable growth of the IB in public education.
The meeting was led by Yoon Byun, Head of Community Partnerships & Development for South Korea, who opened the session by highlighting the central role of partnership in successful IB implementation.
“Implementing the IB is not easy, as it involves fundamental transformation,” Yoon said. “Therefore, we all play crucial roles as part of an interconnected, unified ecosystem.”
The IB’s engagement with South Korea’s public education system began in 2019, with Memorandums of Cooperation (MOCs) signed with the Daegu and Jeju Offices of Education. The partnership has since expanded significantly, with the IB establishing MOCs with 12 of the country’s 17 Offices of Education as of January 2026.
This growth is reflected in the increasing number of schools engaging with IB programmes. South Korea is now home to 110 IB World Schools, with a further 155 candidate schools and close to 300 schools expressing interest in implementing IB programmes.
The meeting saw participants share key achievements from their respective Offices of Education in 2025, which informed discussions on priorities for sustainable implementation. Dialogue focused on teacher wellbeing and motivation, developing high-quality workshop leaders, and professional learning aligned with Korea’s 2022 National Curriculum Reform and IB frameworks.
Further discussions explored authorization as a developmental process for building sustainable IB schools, the distinction between leadership and management in educational contexts, and effective IB communication strategies to support university admissions pathways. This enabled space for reflective and constructive dialogue on the importance of qualitative growth, with participants reaffirming that sustainable IB implementation depends on teacher wellbeing, a deep understanding of each school’s unique context, and support grounded in shared educational philosophy.
Han Yang-hee, Educational Supervisor from the Chungnam Office of Education, emphasised this message: “It’s not just about guiding schools through standard authorization procedures. We need to understand each school’s context and situation, and provide differentiated support accordingly.”
The annual meeting offered a valuable opportunity to deepen mutual understanding of the diverse realities facing South Korean public schools, and to strengthen the foundation for practical, context-driven support. It also reinforced the shared commitment between the IB and South Korean Offices of Education to strengthening public education through genuine partnership, dialogue and shared purpose.
 South Korea team held its annual in-person meeting with representatives from South Korean public education authorities in Seoul. The full-day gathering brought together 33 education officials and supervisors from 12 South Korean Offices of Education for in-depth dialogue, reflection and collaboration focused on the sustainable growth of the IB in public education.){kind=icon}