Ministry of Personnel Management Recognizes Teacher from Seoi Elementary School as Fallen in the Line of Duty

Sillim-dong Trail Teacher's Death Also Recognized as Duty-Related Death

On the 49th day memorial of the late Seo Elementary School teacher on the 4th, elementary school students placed flowers and observed a moment of silence at the memorial altar set up at Seo Elementary School in Seoul. Photo by Huh Younghan younghan@

The bereaved family’s application for posthumous recognition of duty for the deceased teacher at Seo-i Elementary School in Seocho-gu, Seoul, who sparked controversy over 'violation of teacher authority,' has been approved.

According to the education sector on the 27th, the Ministry of Personnel Management notified the bereaved family of Teacher A at Seo-i Elementary School of the recognition of posthumous duty.

On July 18 of last year, the deceased, who was the homeroom teacher for first graders at Seo-i Elementary School, was found to have taken an extreme measure within the school, shocking society.

It is known that the deceased had difficulties dealing with parental complaints and managing problematic students, but the police investigation did not find any specific charges such as 'parental power harassment.'

His death ignited the 'Teacher Authority Restoration Movement,' which involved hundreds of thousands of teachers, and even led to the passage of the 'Four Laws for Teacher Authority Restoration' in the National Assembly to protect teachers' legitimate educational activities.

In September of last year, the National Assembly passed amendments to four laws including the Teacher Status Act, Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Early Childhood Education Act, and Framework Act on Education, which included provisions granting immunity from child abuse charges for teachers’ legitimate disciplinary actions.

In November of last year, about 125,000 teachers and citizens submitted a petition demanding a thorough investigation of Seo-i Elementary School and recognition of posthumous duty to the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee and Education Committee.

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