Gwangju Office of Education: "No Libax School-Linked Programs Found"

Investigation Triggered by Seoul Allegations...
No Related Instructors or Certificates Found
Difficulties in Verification Due to School-Based Hiring Structure

Amid allegations that the far-right educational organization Libax School was involved in comment manipulation during the 21st presidential election, it has been found that the Neulbom School program operated by this organization was not identified in elementary schools in the Gwangju area.

A signboard of Libax School, a conservative-leaning organization, is displayed at an office in a building in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 2nd amid reports related to comment manipulation. Photo by Yonhap News

On June 2, the Gwangju Office of Education stated, "We have determined that there are no instructors or programs related to Libax School in elementary schools within our jurisdiction."

The Office of Education conducted its own investigation of local elementary schools after suspicions arose that Libax School had recruited participants in the comment manipulation as Neulbom School instructors and provided programs to some elementary schools in Seoul.

According to the city education office, as of the end of last year, 3,833 Neulbom School instructors had been hired at 155 elementary schools in Gwangju, operating a total of 7,363 programs. The office expects a similar scale to be maintained this year as well.

The office also checked for similarities between the Libax School programs at 10 elementary schools in Seoul, which are at the center of the controversy, and the programs currently being operated in Gwangju, but reported that no particular issues were found. Additionally, as of now, no instructors have been identified as having submitted the 'Creative Experience Activity Instructor' certificate issued by Libax School.

An official from the Office of Education stated, "Although we were unable to conduct a full review of all program content, we carried out a preliminary investigation by cross-checking program names and whether any complaints had been filed," adding, "So far, it appears there are no programs directly related to Libax School."

However, there are concerns that in Gwangju, where each elementary school independently hires Neulbom instructors, it may be difficult to detect if an external organization changes the program name and operates under a different identity.

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