South Korea: Yangpyeong Curative Steiner School was founded in 2009, in Yangpyeong, a city located east of the Seoul. The young curative educational school includes grades 1-8 and is attended by 20 children with and without disabilities that are taught in three groups. The school is situated on a leased property in a green valley with lots of forest. The aim of the teachers is to build a Camphill facility in the future.

The curative educational school is the first anthroposophical institution of its kind in South Korea. It offers children and youth with and without disabilities the opportunity to go through the school years together. Throughout Asia, such facilities are currently developing and one can feel the pioneer spirit in the various countries from ranging China to Korea.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the following in 2012 about the implementation of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, 2003-2012: “Two regional decades have focused welcome attention on the rights of persons with disabilities and the obligation to enable them to participate fully and equally in society. These efforts have born fruit. Half the countries of the region have ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities [...]. But significant obstacles remain for the 650 million mostly impoverished persons living with disabilities in the Asia-Pacific region. Even where countries have ratified the Convention, many have yet to harmonize it with their national legislation. [...]”

In its three years of existence every day the sixteen students of Yangpyeong Steiner School repeat one line: “school is a place where our dreams come true.” This is a simple but important truth for the students, even though it may seem a bit tacky. But this song empowers these students, especially since many of them belong to South Korea minorities. With the Yangpyeong initiative one of the few places in South Korea has been created, where children with and without special needs can grow up together. Future plans of the school include the foundation of a Camphill community to ensure that those people with special needs can continue to live together after their school time.