Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
'Teach You a Lesson' in real life? Gyeonggi's plan to run new teacher protection unit
Kim Moo-yul plays Na Hwa-jin, an inspector from the fictional Educational Rights Protection Bureau, in a scene from the Netflix series "Teach You a Lesson." Courtesy of Netflix
By Jung Min-ho
From Netflix drama to policy experiment: Over 1,800 vie to play Na Hwa-jin's role in schools
The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education is moving to turn the hit Netflix drama “Teach You a Lesson” into something closer to real life — but without the violence.
The office said Wednesday that it has launched a task force dedicated to building a new teacher protection system that aims to support teachers from the moment a malicious complaint arises until a case is resolved. More than 1,800 people applied for the part-time positions designed to protect the rights of teachers — far exceeding the recruitment target of 50.
“We see this as a reflection of how much public concern over teacher rights has increased,” a senior official working on that initiative told The Korea Times. “Compared with the past, nationwide awareness that teacher authority must be protected has apparently risen, and the number of applicants embodies that will.”
The unexpectedly strong response has led the office to consider doubling the first intake to around 100 officers, and possibly higher, according to officials.
After interviews, those selected will work as “teacher rights protection officers,” directly under Superintendent Ahn Min-seok. Along with 10 regular staff dedicated to the mission, the officers will play a pivotal role in centralizing responses to violations of educators’ rights and building a one-stop support system that follows affected teachers from the initial report through recovery.
Once recruitment is complete, protection officers will be paired one-on-one with teachers facing serious rights violations or malicious complaints, and work alongside lawyers, doctors, education supervisors and counseling experts. Their job will be to handle initial counseling and on-site response, fact-finding, legal advice, psychological care and follow-up management, so that teachers are no longer left to manage complex disputes alone.
Ahn Min-seok, superintendent of the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education, enters the building in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, July 1. Yonhap
While the project was partly inspired by the Educational Rights Protection Bureau in the webtoon-turned-Netflix drama, officials say the real-life officers will rely on legal and administrative tools — not the drama’s physical, beyond-the-law methods.
“Our priority is to protect and stabilize the teacher who is suffering,” said the senior official. “In the past, teachers had to go through the whole process alone. Now, simply having the office dedicated to them can offer a much greater sense of security.”
Yet the emergence of the team has prompted debate over its practical impact. Some critics say adding more administrative staff without formal investigative powers will not be enough to deter lawless students or parents, and that the introduction of a U.S.-style school police system is needed.
The official said such measures would have to be pursued through future legislation rather than decided at the provincial office level, adding that the current scheme is, at the moment, the most realistic and prompt way for the office to respond to threats to teacher rights.
Another key criticism is that the unit may simply be too small to cope with the scale of the problem. The province has more than 2,500 elementary, middle and high schools, raising questions over whether roughly 100 part-time officers plus 10 full-time staff will be enough to make a visible difference.
In response, officials said the first cohort is only a start, saying that staffing will have to be expanded once the task force is upgraded into a full department through ordinance changes, which they believe will happen as early as next year.
For now, officials say they are taking the strong public interest as a mandate to press ahead, even if the first step and legal framework fall short of what some teachers are calling for.
“One article I found interesting described our recruitment as ‘looking for a Na Hwa-jin who doesn’t hit,’” the senior official said, referring to the Netflix drama’s vigilante hero. That line, he added, neatly sums up the aim of the project.