[Anchor]

Gwangyang Health Sciences University, the only university in Gwangyang, is set to close at the end of August after the school foundation, Yangnam Academy, was declared bankrupt by the court. Challenges remain regarding the special transfer of current students and plans for utilizing the vacant campus.

KBC reporter Kim Dong-soo has the story.

[Reporter]

The campus, once bustling with young students, is now filled with silence, having lost its vitality.

The dark classrooms and desolate hallways are so bleak that it would not be surprising if the doors were to close immediately.

A current student expressed growing anxiety over the fact that they have to transfer schools with only half a semester left.

[Student, 3rd year, Physical Therapy Department, Gwangyang Health Sciences University: The biggest concern is whether the credits from the classes I took here will be recognized when I transfer to another school, and whether I will be able to meet the graduation credit requirements. That is probably the biggest...]

Gwangyang Health Sciences University has suffered from long-term financial difficulties due to the overlap of the founder's embezzlement case in 2013, restrictions on financial support from the Ministry of Education, and a decline in the school-age population.

While the local community and university members have worked together for normalization, the school faced the worst-case scenario of bankruptcy after its normalization plan was finally rejected by the Ministry of Education in March.

[Kim Ju-myung, Acting President and Vice President of Gwangyang Health Sciences University: I believe that closing on August 30 is the best approach. We need to minimize the damage to students, and there are students who must graduate from here. We need to provide solutions for those cases...]

There are currently 115 students enrolled, but it remains uncertain whether their transfer procedures will proceed smoothly.

As Gwangyang Health Sciences University, which has trained local healthcare professionals for over 30 years, disappears into history, how to utilize the vacant campus has become a new task for the local community.

(Video coverage: Park Myung-shin, KBC)

KBC Kim Dong-soo