Revised Official Statement from Seoi Elementary School... Growing Calls for Truth Investigation

Bereaved Teacher's Parents Suffered 'Malicious Complaints'?
Seoi Elementary: "No Reports of School Violence Received"
Teachers' Union: "Not All School Violence Cases Are Formally Reported"

Seoi Elementary School in Seocho-gu, Seoul, has issued a statement amid numerous suspicions surrounding the death of a newly appointed teacher. However, contrary to Seoi Elementary's explanation that "there were no reports of school violence," claims have emerged that the deceased teacher suffered from excessive complaints from parents over school violence issues. Teachers' organizations have demanded a clear investigation of the facts.

On the 20th, Seoi Elementary released an official statement to clarify the facts. Regarding the suspicion that "the deceased was assigned as a homeroom teacher against their will," Seoi Elementary refuted this by stating, "The deceased was assigned to the homeroom class according to their own wishes." Concerning the deceased's duties, the school said, "The responsibility was not related to school violence but involved managing the 'NEIS' (National Education Information System) permissions."

On the 21st, a memorial altar for homeroom teacher A from Seo-i Elementary School, who died by suicide, was set up at the Gangnam Seocho Office of Education in Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Regarding the claim that "the homeroom teacher was replaced multiple times in the class," Seoi Elementary stated, "Since March 1, 2023, there has been no change in the homeroom teacher for the class assigned to the deceased."

In response to the claim that "the deceased suffered difficulties due to school violence incidents within the class," the school said, "There were no reports of school violence in the class this year, and the teacher did not visit the Office of Education regarding school violence," and added, "The issue reportedly occurring in the class was resolved the next day with the school's support." Seoi Elementary also confirmed, "The family of the politician mentioned on social media is not part of this class."

However, Seoi Elementary later revised its statement without further explanation, removing the phrase, "The issue reportedly occurring in the class was resolved the next day with the school's support."

On the 21st, a memorial altar for homeroom teacher A from Seo-i Elementary School, who died by suicide, was set up at the Gangnam Seocho Office of Education in Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

The teachers' union raised concerns about the part of Seoi Elementary's statement claiming "there were no reports of school violence." On the 21st, Jang Dae-jin, Senior Vice Chairman of the Seoul Teachers' Union, said on MBC Radio's "Kim Jong-bae's Focus," "Various conflicts occur within classes, but not all of these conflicts are reported," and pointed out, "Saying there were no reports of school violence does not mean there were no conflicts or disputes in the class."

Senior Vice Chairman Jang confirmed circumstances of excessive complaints from parents related to school violence. He said, "We confirmed that about four students in the class had behavioral difficulties, and among them, there was school violence between one student and another, which led to excessive complaints from parents," adding, "This is something that the police and education authorities must carefully investigate when determining the cause."

Yoon Mi-sook, Policy Director of the National Elementary Teachers' Union, emphasized that the core issue in the Seoi Elementary case is the malicious complaints from parents. On the 21st, Yoon said on CBS Radio's "Kim Hyun-jung's News Show," "Based on reports from other colleagues, it is understood that there were conflicts and disputes among the students," and argued, "Just because there were no formal reports of school violence does not mean that such violence did not occur."

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