Teacher Ji Haebok Demanding Reinstatement Detained by Police During High-Altitude Protest

by Oh Jieun

Published 15 Apr.2026 11:32(KST)

Charged with Trespassing

Twelve individuals, including teachers, who were protesting their unjust dismissal by staging a high-altitude sit-in at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, were taken into police custody.

Yongsan Police Station, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

Yongsan Police Station announced that around 8:00 a.m. on April 15, it had arrested Ji Haebok (age 61), a teacher, and 11 protesters who were demanding his reinstatement on charges of trespassing. The arrest took place four hours after Mr. Ji began his high-altitude protest on the rooftop of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education in Yongsan District at around 4:00 a.m. that morning.

Mr. Ji had been working as the head of the counseling department at a middle school in Seoul when he raised suspicions of sexual violence within the school. Afterward, he was transferred to another school. He insisted that the personnel decision was unfair and called for it to be reversed, but his demand was not accepted and he was subsequently dismissed.

Last month, the Seoul Administrative Court ruled that the transfer order against Mr. Ji was unjust in a lawsuit he filed seeking to have the transfer nullified, but he has not been reinstated to date.

Meanwhile, on April 1, three protesters demanding Mr. Ji's reinstatement were detained on charges of assaulting police officers during a sit-in in front of the Office of Education, but they were released the next day.