Police Conclude Investigation into 'Seoi Elementary Incident'... "No Evidence of Criminal Charges"

Regarding the case of a teacher at Seoi Elementary School who took an extreme step on campus last July, the police have decided to close the preliminary investigation (investigation before formal indictment). The police explained that no criminal charges such as parental abuse of power or verbal abuse were found.

On July 21st, a memorial altar for Teacher A of Seoi Elementary School was set up at the Gangnam Seocho Education Support Office in Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

On the 14th, the Seoul Seocho Police Station stated, "After analyzing the deceased's tablet PC, school PC, chat application conversation records, diary, notes, and hospital treatment records, and investigating a total of 68 people including bereaved family members, fellow teachers, acquaintances, and parents, no criminal charges such as parental abuse of power or verbal abuse were found."

The police added, "After exchanging opinions with the prosecution regarding the results of the National Forensic Service's psychological autopsy and the police investigation, it was concluded that the deceased took an extreme step," and "The Seoi Elementary School case is scheduled to be closed today as a preliminary investigation." Separately, the police plan to proceed with the so-called 'pencil incident' and cases such as defamation according to the usual investigation procedures.

The police judged that the circumstances leading to the deceased's extreme step involved a combination of factors, including stress related to the school experienced since being assigned to Seoi Elementary School last year, issues with managing the class children this year, problems related to parents, school work-related issues, and personal matters. The detailed psychological autopsy results were not disclosed due to opposition from the bereaved family.

Also, although the deceased experienced stress from parents, the police found that there was no continuous harassment, assault, threats, or coercion by the parents. A police official said, "From the materials secured so far and investigations of fellow teachers, parents, and friends, no evidence of harassment or content that could be seen as criminal charges was found," and "There was no record in the statements of fellow teachers or group chat logs that the deceased complained of verbal abuse or assault by parents."

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