Teacher Lee Young-seung Who Died After Suffering Malicious Complaints... Recognized as Died in the Line of Duty

Harassed by Malicious Complaints over the 'PET Bottle Incident'
Im Tae-hee, Gyeonggi Superintendent of Education, "Officially Recognized as Line of Duty Death"

The line-of-duty death of the late Lee Young-seung, a teacher at Howon Elementary School in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, who suffered from malicious complaints by parents, has been recognized.

Lim Tae-hee, Superintendent of Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education, announced on Facebook on the 20th, "The line-of-duty death of Teacher Lee Young-seung has been recognized."

Officials from the Gyeonggi Teachers' Labor Union held a press conference on the morning of the 4th in front of the Ministry of Personnel Management at Government Sejong 2 Complex in Sejong City, ahead of submitting a nationwide teachers' petition for the posthumous recognition of the honorable service of the late teachers Kim Eun-ji and Lee Young-seung of Howon Elementary School. Photo by Yonhap News

Two years ago, in December 2021, Teacher Lee Young-seung died by suicide after suffering from malicious complaints by parents. However, at that time, the school reportedly classified his death simply as an accidental fall.

However, the bereaved family claimed that Teacher Lee died after enduring malicious complaints from parents, and the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education, prompted by the Seo-i Elementary School teacher incident, began a reinvestigation as the case gained public attention.

The investigation revealed that Teacher Lee was subjected to malicious complaints from three parents. In his first year of appointment in 2016, a sixth-grade student whom he was homeroom teacher for injured the back of his hand while cutting a PET bottle during class, and the student's parent filed malicious complaints. It was found that Teacher Lee personally paid 4 million KRW in medical expenses over eight months, providing 500,000 KRW each month to the parent.

Teacher Lee also faced malicious complaints from two other parents for different reasons. These parents are currently under police investigation for obstruction of business by infringing on Teacher Lee’s educational activities.

Superintendent Lim expressed gratitude for the decision of the Public Officials’ Industrial Accident Compensation Review Committee, which recognized "(Teacher Lee’s death) as a work-related injury caused by continuous complaints from parents," and said, "The Provincial Office of Education will make every effort to prevent such tragedies from happening again."

He added, "We will not overlook the difficulties faced by teachers fulfilling the state's responsibilities at schools, and will ensure that teachers do not have to bear all burdens alone," emphasizing, "I offer my condolences to the bereaved family and fellow teachers who must have been deeply saddened as memories were revisited during the line-of-duty death review process."

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