One in seven children who reached school-going age have not enrolled at primary school.
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, the number of these children stood at 18,541 in 2007, accounting for 15 percent of 125,214 children subject to compulsory education. It marks a steep growth from 7,104 a decade ago.
Growing overseas studies, health problems and financial difficulties were among the key reasons behind the rise in the figure.
Children whose parents are credit delinquents also had difficulty in enrolling as their resident registrations got cancelled and were not able to receive their school attendance notification.
The Ministry of Education will offer measures to cut the number of children postponing their elementary school entrance.
For children of financially troubled parents, designated schools will now allow children to enroll with simple confirmation of their current residence through lease or monthly rate contracts, census registration and other identification procedures.
Compulsory elementary school education in Korea started in the 1950s while that for middle school started in 2004.