'Seoicho Incident' After 4 Months, No News on Line-of-Duty Death Review... "Efforts Underway for Prompt Review"

Teacher groups' signature campaign urging posthumous recognition
Delays over 3 months in starting review procedures
Only 3 teacher posthumous cases in the past 5 years

Four months after the 'Seoul Seoi Elementary School Incident,' the official recognition of teacher A's death as a work-related fatality has yet to be reviewed. While teacher organizations are demanding that A's death be recognized as work-related, the Ministry of Personnel Management, which is responsible for the review, has not scheduled a review date, citing the need to supplement the materials.

According to the Ministry of Personnel Management on the 4th, the schedule for reviewing the work-related fatality of teacher A, who died at Seoul Seoi Elementary School on July 18, has not yet been decided. A ministry official stated, "We are currently supplementing the materials and are making efforts to conduct the review as soon as possible."

Earlier, on August 31, A's bereaved family submitted a claim for work-related survivor benefits to the Seoul Gangnam Seocho Office of Education. Work-related survivor benefits are paid to the family when a public official dies during their service due to injury or illness related to their duties, or dies after retirement due to such injury or illness. To have a teacher’s death recognized as work-related, documents must be submitted through the education office, followed by fact verification and review by the Government Employees Pension Service and the Ministry of Personnel Management, with the final decision made by the Government Employee Disaster Compensation Review Board within the ministry.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Subsequently, teacher organizations have repeatedly urged the recognition of A's death as work-related. In particular, after the Seoul Seocho Police Station closed the related investigation last month on the 14th with a conclusion of 'no criminal suspicion,' teacher organizations once again demanded a prompt investigation into the facts of the case and the review process for the work-related fatality claim. On the 30th, following the announcement of the investigation results, the Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations, Seoul Teachers' Union, Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union, and other teacher organizations submitted signatures from approximately 125,000 teachers and citizens to the Ministry of Personnel Management.

The criteria for recognizing work-related injuries under the Government Employee Disaster Compensation Act include cases where there is a significant causal relationship between mental disorders caused by official duties or related reasons and self-harm behavior. While suicide is generally not recognized as a work-related fatality, the Ministry of Personnel Management explains that an exception can be made if the act is related to official duties.

On the 25th of last month, the ministry visited Seoi Elementary School to conduct an investigation for the review of A's work-related fatality. However, a ministry official said, "Since the review materials include personal information, it is difficult to provide specific details," and added, "The review schedule varies depending on the case."

Attention is focused on whether the police’s conclusion of 'no suspicion' will affect the recognition of the work-related fatality. There is precedent for recognizing work-related fatalities even when police investigations, such as in the case of the 'Gyeonggi Howon Elementary School teacher,' who faced malicious complaints from parents, have not been completed. Therefore, it is quite possible that A's case will be judged independently of the police investigation. However, the rate of recognition for teachers’ deaths as work-related remains low. According to the 'Report on the Review Results of Disaster Compensation Related to Suicides of Educational Public Officials' submitted to Rep. Im Hoseon of the Democratic Party by the Ministry of Personnel Management, from 2018 to this year, only 3 out of 20 cases (15%) of suicide among educational public officials were recognized as work-related and received disaster compensation.

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