"Seoicho, There Is No Last Word Saying It's Because of Parents" Controversy Over KAIST Professor's Remarks

Professor Lee Byung-tae "This Incident, Doubts About Educational Authority and Causality"
"Extreme Choices Regardless of Occupation... Could Be a Personal Matter"

Professor Byungtae Lee of KAIST College of Business recently expressed concern over the social atmosphere that hastily attributes the extreme choice made by a first-grade homeroom teacher at an elementary school in Seoul to 'violation of teacher authority' and 'malicious complaints from parents.' He argued that it is dangerous for public opinion to label the teacher as a 'victim of social violence' when there was no suicide note indicating that malicious complaints from specific students or parents were the cause.

Professor Byungtae Lee, KAIST

On the 31st, Professor Lee posted on his social media (SNS) under the title "Critical Thinking to Discern Social Issues," stating, "There is a question of whether there is truly a causal relationship between suicide and the violation of teacher authority, and whether the social cause of the teacher's suicide is the collapse of teacher authority."

He added, "If the rude behavior of students and parents toward teachers is the cause and this is a social problem, then we need evidence that the suicide rate among teachers is higher than in other professions," and argued, "People in all professions commit suicide. In other words, regardless of profession, people may reach a psychological state where suicide is an extremely exceptional choice."

Professor Lee pointed out, "The reason for concern over the tragic death of one teacher is that it could be a personal matter, but it is immediately assumed to be a case of social violence victimization," and said, "Assuming victimhood without causal evidence is like accusing certain students and their parents of being murderers or terrifying people who drove someone else to suicide if that is not the cause."

On the 24th of last month, citizens visited the memorial altar for Teacher A of Seoi Elementary School, set up at the Gangnam Seocho Education Support Office in Seoul, to pay their respects to the deceased. [Image source=Yonhap News]

He continued, "It is worrisome to assume the (Seoicho teacher's) death, which could be an individual and personal matter, as a victim of social violence," and mentioned, "We might be committing the harm of labeling certain students and parents as murderers without any evidence."

Professor Lee argued, "According to reports, the teacher who took their own life did not leave a suicide note claiming that they died because of problems with specific students or parents, so why make such dangerous assumptions?"

However, he also clarified that he himself is not making a definitive judgment, adding, "This is a concern about hastily labeling one unfortunate death as a 'social problem' without verifying causal relationships."

In the education sector, Professor Lee’s post was criticized as distorting the essence of the incident. Although the exact cause has not been revealed, the deceased teacher’s diary had already shown signs of struggling with classroom duties and student issues.

As the controversy grew, Professor Lee announced via SNS, "I apologize. I will stop using SNS."

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