Education ministry demands punishment for school principal over student murder
This photo shows a police patrol car arriving at an elementary school after a report of murder in Daejeon, Feb 10. Yonhap
The Ministry of Education said Friday it has demanded heavy disciplinary action for the principal of a Daejeon elementary school, where an 8-year-old student was murdered by a teacher in February, blaming him for failing to properly supervise the killer.
The ministry said it also asked the Daejeon Metropolitan Office of Education to impose light disciplinary action on the deputy principal of the same school and an education support office official in charge of the school for similar reasons.
Mug shots of murder suspect Myeong Jae-wan is seen in this photo provided by the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency, March 12. Yonhap
The murder occurred on Feb. 10, when the 48-year-old female teacher, Myeong Jae-wan, fatally stabbed the first-grade girl in an empty classroom.
The school principal is accused of failing to report Myeong to the police, though he was asked to do so by the Daejeon Metropolitan Office of Education after she damaged her computer and made threatening behavior toward fellow teachers, the ministry said.
In addition, the principal did not fulfill his responsibilities by failing to recognize Myeong's unauthorized absence from work on the day of the incident. The teacher left the school that day and bought a knife.
The deputy principal failed to report the teacher's absence to the principal, while the education support official did not take proper measures after receiving a report from the principal about her strange behavior, the ministry noted.