Jeon Nam Provincial Assemblyman Lee Hyuk-je Urges Prevention of Recurrence in Yeosu Trainee Death Case

"Emphasis on the Need for Shared Responsibility Among Education Authorities, Relevant Companies, and the Ministry of Employment"

On the 3rd, Lee Hyuk-je, a member of the Jeonnam Provincial Assembly, urged the Jeonnam Office of Education to establish measures to prevent the recurrence of the death accident involving a trainee from a specialized high school in Yeosu during the administrative audit.

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Jun-gyeong] Lee Hyuk-je, a member of the Jeonnam Provincial Assembly (Mokpo 4), on the 3rd pointed out the problems of the education authorities and the company involved in the death of a trainee from a specialized high school in Yeosu during the Jeonnam Office of Education administrative audit, urging measures to prevent recurrence of the accident.

Assemblyman Lee Hyuk-je stated, “The responsibility for this tragic accident lies with the school that selected a company without practical training capability as a participating company and the company itself, which was ignorant of trainee education,” and emphasized, “The Ministry of Education, the final supervisory body of schools, and the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the department responsible for labor supervision of companies, must share joint responsibility.”

He continued, “Every time a field training accident occurs, only the school is held responsible because the students are minors, and solutions are demanded from the school, which leads to repeated accidents,” adding, “The education authorities must take preemptive measures together with the Ministry of Employment and Labor to ensure that such accidents never happen again.”

Park Hyung-nam, principal of Yeosu Maritime Science High School, said, “As the person responsible for the school, I feel a heavy sense of responsibility and am doing my best to stabilize the psychology of the remaining students,” and added, “It is realistically difficult for the school to manage field trainees daily, and since field training is linked to employment, abolishing field training is not the best option. As the principal, I will do my best to prevent such accidents from happening again.”

Assemblyman Lee Hyuk-je pointed out, “Looking at Hong-gun’s third-year second-semester school timetable, subjects such as ship deck management, thermal machinery, water leisure equipment operation, and diving technology are major courses that marine leisure tourism students must take before graduation,” and said, “However, trainees do not attend school during the second semester due to field training. I regret that if the diving technology course had been taken for one more semester, the accident might have been prevented.”

He also said, “Among 4,237 graduates from 47 specialized high schools last year, 43.1% found employment, and 41.4% chose to enter university instead of employment,” emphasizing, “At a time when social discrimination against high school graduate workers is severe, it is necessary to consider ways for regional specialized high schools and regional vocational colleges to coexist through linkage.”

According to the data submitted by Assemblyman Lee, among the 47 specialized high schools in Jeonnam last year, 18 schools had a university entrance rate exceeding 50%. Yeonggwang Electronics High School exceeded 83.3%, Goheung Yeongju High School 70%, Jeonnam Health High School 69.1%, Haenam Technical High School 69.5%, and large technical high schools representing Jeonnam such as Suncheon Technical High School 57.9%, Mokpo Technical High School 40.2%, and Yeosu Technical High School 38.8% saw many specialized high school students choosing university entrance.

Assemblyman Lee argued, “The Ministry of Education’s employment-oriented policy does not fit social realities,” and insisted, “Just as employment consignment education is provided to general high school students who choose employment, the Office of Education should support specialized high school students who wish to enter university.”

In response, Education Director Wi Kyung-jong said, “There was a lack of university information provision for specialized high school students wishing to enter university,” and replied, “From now on, the university guidance department of general high schools will provide information to specialized high school students.”

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