Ministry of Education Pre-announced Emergency Inspection on 'School Illegal Filming'... Citizens Express Frustration Over "Complacent Response"

The perpetrator is a current teacher... Urgent inspection, SNS promotion, and official notice sent
"It's like notifying the criminal to avoid the crime"
Expert: "Illegal filming is as serious a sex crime as physical offenses"

The Ministry of Education recently ordered an urgent comprehensive investigation into illegal filming incidents occurring within schools, but public criticism is mounting as they are promoting this openly. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon, Intern Reporter Kang Joo-hee] The Ministry of Education recently ordered an urgent full-scale investigation into illegal filming incidents occurring within schools, but public criticism is mounting as the ministry has been promoting this investigation openly.

Critics argue that by publicly announcing the urgent inspection, criminals who installed illegal filming cameras were given advance notice to respond, undermining the purpose of the urgent inspection. There are criticisms that the intent of the urgent inspection has been rendered meaningless.

Experts emphasize the need for practical measures that recognize the seriousness of sexual crimes occurring within schools and foster awareness of gender sensitivity.

According to the Gyeongnam Provincial Office of Education and Gyeongnam Police Agency on the 9th, incidents of illegal filming cameras being discovered in the first-floor girls' restroom of a high school in Gimhae and the second-floor girls' restroom of a middle school in Changnyeong occurred consecutively in May. Both perpetrators were confirmed to be current teachers working at the respective schools, causing a public uproar.

As illegal filming incidents within schools occurred one after another, the Ministry of Education requested a full-scale investigation nationwide into the installation of illegal filming cameras in elementary, middle, and high schools.

However, the ministry's extensive promotion of the urgent inspection, including posting posters on SNS (social networking services), has been criticized. By publicly announcing the implementation of the urgent full-scale investigation, critics argue that criminals were given time to retrieve illegal filming cameras installed on school premises.

The Ministry of Education announced that it will conduct an emergency inspection related to illegal filming in schools./Photo by Ministry of Education Facebook capture

Feminist scholar Kwon Kim Hyun-young strongly criticized the Ministry of Education on the 15th in a post on her Facebook, saying, "Hey, you idiots, how can you be so stupid as to 'announce' an 'urgent inspection' in advance?"

Citizens also raised critical voices, saying, "Are they telling us to hurry up and retrieve them because there will be a full investigation?", "If you announce it beforehand, it will be well investigated," and "Stop just theorizing and please come up with proper measures."

As the controversy spread, the Ministry of Education belatedly deleted related posts. However, criticism continues that the ministry overlooked the gravity of the issue and responded complacently.

The fact that the Ministry of Education sent the illegal camera inspection notice as an official document was also criticized. Despite the perpetrator being a current teacher at the school, it was deemed inappropriate to allow all internal school personnel to access the urgent inspection notice.

In a post on an online community, netizen A strongly criticized, saying, "Did they overlook the fact that the perpetrator could be inside the school? The perpetrator in this case is not an outsider but a current teacher," and added, "Isn't this like kindly notifying the criminal to avoid the crime, considering the perpetrator might be inside the school?"

According to a survey, illegal filming crimes within schools are continuously increasing. Photo by Yonhap News

According to a survey, illegal filming crimes within schools are continuously increasing. Data titled 'Recent 4-Year Crime Occurrence Status of Camera and Other Filming Crimes in Schools,' submitted by the National Police Agency to Park Chan-dae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, shows that a total of 451 crimes occurred over four years from 2015 to 2018. The annual figures were 77 cases in 2015, 86 in 2016, 115 in 2017, and 173 in 2018, showing an increasing trend each year.

Additionally, a survey revealed that 3% of middle and high school students experienced illegal filming or distribution of filmed materials during school life. According to the 'Research on Gender Equality Awareness and Sexual Harassment/Sexual Violence in Middle and High Schools' report submitted by the Ministry of Education to Shim Sang-jung of the Justice Party on the 15th, 3% of approximately 144,000 middle and high school students nationwide responded that they had suffered illegal filming or distribution during school life last year.

Experts emphasize the need to recognize the seriousness of illegal filming crimes to prevent recurrence.

Shin Sung-yeon, an activist at the Korea Cyber Sexual Violence Response Center, pointed out, "This incident occurred within the community, and despite the perpetrator being a teacher, the full-scale investigation notice was sent as an official document accessible to all school staff, which is an unacceptable measure," adding, "They are viewing sexual violence issues occurring within the community too complacently."

She continued, "While it is important to conduct full-scale investigations to catch illegal filming cameras, it is also necessary to recognize the seriousness of such sexual crimes occurring within the community, between students and teachers, and to establish practical measures that can cultivate awareness of gender sensitivity."

She further stated, "Recently, stickers prohibiting illegal filming are posted in every public place, so no one is unaware that illegal filming itself is a crime, yet such incidents continue to occur. It is a serious problem that even teachers commit such crimes at schools," emphasizing, "Proper punishment and strengthening penalties for perpetrators are necessary to raise awareness that illegal filming is as serious a crime as physical sexual offenses."

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