Teacher from Ulsan Sent to Prosecution for Inappropriate Comments After Assigning 'Underwear Laundry' Homework

Ulsan Metropolitan Office of Education Decides to Dismiss Teacher A

On the 13th of last month, a press conference was held in front of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-dong, organized by 'Mothers Engaged in Politics,' to report a teacher from an elementary school in Ulsan./Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suwan] A teacher at an elementary school in Ulsan, who assigned first-grade students to wash their underwear as homework and left sexually inappropriate comments, has been referred to the prosecution.

The Ulsan Metropolitan Police Agency announced on the 22nd that they had sent Teacher A to the prosecution with a recommendation for indictment without detention.

The police applied charges including violation of the Child Welfare Act against Teacher A. They judged that assigning the underwear washing task and leaving comments such as "sexy" and "pretty underwear" on students' submitted homework photos and self-introduction photos were problematic.

It is known that the police have been investigating whether Teacher A engaged students in obscene acts or negatively affected their emotional development.

Previously, Teacher A assigned homework under the pretext of filial piety, instructing students to "submit photos of themselves washing their underwear." Afterwards, Teacher A left comments such as "sexy friend" and "pretty underwear, shy shy" on the students' submissions, which provoked strong backlash from parents who saw them.

Furthermore, as this issue spread through an online community bulletin board, a petition demanding Teacher A's dismissal was posted on the Blue House National Petition Board. The petition gathered 225,764 signatures within one month.

As the controversy intensified, the Ulsan Metropolitan Office of Education held a general disciplinary committee for educational officials on the 29th of last month and decided to dismiss Teacher A. Unlike dismissal, which allows receiving both pension and allowances, dismissal with loss of position allows receiving only 50% of both.

The reasons for disciplining Teacher A are known to include △ inappropriate language and behavior toward students and fellow teachers △ posting content damaging the dignity of teachers on social media △ violating service guidelines for teachers' YouTube activities △ violating prohibitions on profit-making activities and concurrent positions.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.