"Really Detestable" Controversial Juho-min's Child Recording to Be Played in Court

Court Decides to Replay Footage at Request of Special Education Teacher
"Need to Understand Context"... Evidence Admissibility Undecided

Regarding the emotional abuse case involving webtoon artist Ju Homin's elementary school son, the court has decided to play the audio recording of the incident in the courtroom.

On the 28th, the Suwon District Court Criminal Division 9 (Judge Kwak Yongheon) held the third trial session for special education teacher A, who was indicted for violating the Special Act on the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes (aggravated punishment for child abuse by workers in child welfare facilities).

Webtoon artist Ju Homin.

On this day, A teacher's defense attorney requested, "To understand the context of the situation, it is necessary to listen to the entire recording continuously, not just parts of it," and added, "Since the prosecution claims that 'the recording was made during a public school class and therefore is not illegally obtained evidence,' please play the recording in the open courtroom to clarify the facts."

In response, the court stated, "We believe it is necessary to play the entire recording submitted by the prosecution. We have no intention of selecting only 1 to 2 minutes to listen to," and continued, "In the previous session, we could not play the entire content due to its length, but the transcript alone is insufficient; it is necessary to understand the speaker's tone and the surrounding circumstances. We will listen to the original or, if the defense agrees, the audio-enhanced file provided by the prosecution."

Earlier, Mr. Ju and his spouse had placed a recorder in their son's school bag last year and reported teacher A to the police for child abuse based on the recorded content.

The prosecution judged that A's remarks constituted emotional abuse harmful to the mental health and development of Ju's son, who has developmental disabilities, and referred A to trial on December 27 of last year.

According to the indictment, A said to Ju's son, "You are really hateful, what on earth is in your head? Your behavior is very bad. Ugh, I hate you. I hate you to death. I hate you. I hate you too. Really hate you," among other remarks. The total recording is reported to be about 2 hours and 30 minutes long.

In response, A's side argued that the recording was illegally obtained evidence and therefore lacks evidentiary value. Kim Kiyoon, legal counsel for the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education, stated, "Recording without the consent of the parties involved violates the Information and Communications Network Act," and argued, "The evidentiary value of the recording submitted by the victim's side cannot be recognized."

He also emphasized, "If the recording is accepted as evidence, it may lead to an increase in recordings of on-site teachers, causing side effects in their job performance," and urged the court to carefully consider the recognition of evidentiary value.

The court plans to review the entire content of the recording submitted as evidence by Mr. Ju and his spouse at the next hearing. However, the determination of the evidentiary admissibility of the recording will be reviewed later.

On this day, Mr. Ju's court-appointed lawyer submitted petitions from the victim's parents and parents of children with disabilities, as well as an opinion letter from a professor of early childhood special education, to the court. Previously, Mr. Ju had announced his intention to submit a petition requesting no punishment for teacher A. However, the court returned all documents, stating, "Please submit them as evidence through the prosecution if necessary."

Meanwhile, teacher A, who was suspended from duty in January this year, is reported to have been reinstated on the 1st by the authority of the superintendent of the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education. A, who was indicted without detention, attended the trial but did not make any particular statements.

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