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"Schools in the Republic of Korea have transformed into arenas of numerous legal disputes over the past decade."

On the 15th, Park Sang-su, a lawyer specializing in school violence cases, made this statement to the press at a foreign correspondents' press conference held at the Korea Press Center. The conference was organized by the executive committee of the teachers' general rally held on October 28 and the Public Education Normalization Strategy Planning Team, composed of anonymous teachers, to raise awareness about the successive deaths of teachers. Speakers included the representative of the Teachers' Bereaved Families Association, a teacher who reported child abuse and suffered from it, and lawyer Park.

Park Du-yong, representative of the Teachers' Bereaved Families Association and a bereaved family member of a teacher from Seo-i Elementary School in Seoul who passed away in July, explained the police investigation process following the Seo-i Elementary School incident on July 18. He stated that upon visiting the police station after hearing the news of the death, he was immediately told that the deceased had committed suicide due to a "breakup with her boyfriend." He pointed out that after teachers took to the streets, the police admitted and apologized for the initial investigation's inadequacy, but only conducted one witness interview afterward and delayed the process by stating there was no evidence.

Regarding the police's decision of no charges the previous day, Park said, "The police announced no charges while making several statements such as 'We never contacted the younger sibling directly,' but upon reviewing the details, most of these were false or unverified," adding, "There is an expression that the bereaved family agreed to the no-charge decision, but that is not true."

He explained, "When I went to the police station and heard the details, they said there are limitations in the investigation as it mostly relies on testimonies from the police's perspective," and added, "There are still uncertain parts and areas where additional points of agreement can be found, so I hope they do not definitively state that there is no suspicion at all."

He also spoke about the situation in the education field, saying, "In this broken society of trust where we have to pay more attention to parents' lawsuits than to children's education, who, the children or the teachers, can live normally?" and "My younger sibling and many teachers collapsed from exhaustion and helplessness, unable to do anything."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The press conference also introduced cases of harm experienced by current teachers. During the teachers' statements, several speakers choked back tears. Teacher A, who requested anonymity, shared that last July, while serving as a homeroom teacher, they were reported for emotional child abuse by a parent while trying to curb a student's problematic behavior. They later received psychiatric treatment and attempted suicide due to excessive complaints from the parent. Eventually, after one year and six months, they were cleared of charges by the prosecution.

In response to a foreign correspondent's question about how difficult the situation on the ground is, teacher Yoon, who also requested anonymity, revealed, "Under the current Child Abuse Act, any word or action can be considered emotional child abuse, so everything I said and did in the classroom has become evidence labeling me as an abuser," and confessed, "One night, I overdosed on sleeping pills and wished every morning would never come; I thought the only way not to go to school was to die." Teacher A also said, "After receiving phone calls and text message bombings, I was in so much pain that I couldn't sleep," adding, "During that ordeal (the lawsuit), I had to drink about eight bottles of soju."

Kim Sang-gyu from the Strategy Planning Team said, "The Ministry of Education of Korea implemented the 'Notice on Teachers' Student Life Guidance' starting September 1," but added, "However, even after the enforcement of the student life guidance notice, there has been little change in the school field."

On this day, teachers unanimously called for the revision of the 'Child Abuse Act.' Im So-young from the Strategy Planning Team emphasized, "What exactly is pushing teachers to the edge? It is the ambiguity and misuse of education-related laws (Child Welfare Act, School Violence Prevention Act) and the lack of a system." She stated, "Article 17, Paragraph 5 of the Child Welfare Act, which prohibits 'emotional abuse acts,' clearly has room for misuse because it cannot precisely define emotional abuse acts," and added, "Most teachers spend their days just trying to appease children and parents rather than focusing on learning guidance and life guidance for the child's growth."

On the 49th day memorial of the late Seo-i Elementary School teacher on the 4th, a student at Seo-i Elementary School in Seoul is attaching a note with a condolence message to a memorial banner. Photo by Huh Younghan younghan@

There was also a call to transfer the entire school violence task to the police through the revision of the 'School Violence Prevention Act.' Lawyer Park said, "Even if students who are victims of school violence report it to the school, the teacher investigating it is sued for child abuse by the perpetrator and their parents," and "The accused teacher is immediately suspended from their position." He continued, "As a result, teachers become very passive about school violence issues," and stated, "All school violence cases should be transferred to the police."

There was also an opinion that a sanction system is needed for malicious complaints. Representative Park said, "I was very angry and saddened by the fact that when problems such as malicious complaints arise within the school, only one person handles the matter alone," and added, "It is most important to create a system that supplements this so that not all the burden falls on one person."

Teacher Yoon also said, "When legal disputes arise in schools in the Republic of Korea, teachers are left alone to resolve all these issues while teaching," and added, "Like hospitals or companies, when legal disputes occur, the education office needs to have a 'one-stop' system that prepares from lawyer appointment, lawyer fee claims, to public official accident applications, and even the process of recognizing death in the line of duty (in case of death)."

The Strategy Planning Team plans to visit Seocho Police Station and the Ministry of Personnel Management to demand a thorough investigation and recognition of death in the line of duty for the deceased teacher from Seo-i Elementary School.

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