Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
School teacher's death sparks calls for improved educator protections, education reforms
A student and his guardian pass by messages and flowers of condolences over the walls of Seoul Se02 Elementary School in Seoul's Seocho District, Friday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
By Lee Hae-rin
By Lee Hae-rin
The recent death of an elementary school teacher in Seoul has ignited debates on the need for legislative reforms to protect educators.
On Tuesday, the teacher, who was in her 20s, took her own life early in the morning within her classroom at the elementary school in Seoul's affluent Seocho District. Her death has sparked online speculation that she was struggling with school violence committed by her students and subsequent complaints from parents.
The Seoul branch of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union released reports received from teachers employed at the school between 2020 and 2023, Friday, to help provide context to the situation the young teacher had faced.
The reports said the workload and parental complaints concerning school violence at Seoul Seo2 Elementary School, where the deceased teacher worked, were at "an incomprehensibly immense level" and the environment allegedly hindered teachers' ability to perform their normal duties.
The situation was particularly difficult for young, inexperienced teachers, such as the deceased who was in her second year of teaching, as they struggled to handle incidents of school violence and excessive parental complaints. Many also testified that the she had been dealing with actual cases of school violence and excessive complaints from the parents.
A deliveryman carries wreaths of white flowers in condolences to the teacher in her 20s who took her own life at her classroom in Seoul Seo2 Elementary School in Seocho District, Seoul, Friday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
Despite the teachers' accounts, the school issued a statement, Thursday, denying any reported cases of school violence within the deceased teacher's classroom this year, prompting criticism that the school is attempting to downplay the incident.
In response to the school's statement, the teacher's bereaved family held a press conference in front of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE), Thursday, calling for a thorough investigation into her death and the school's system and education environment that may have contributed to it.
SMOE Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon also visited Seoul SE02 Elementary School to pay his condolences, Friday, and vowed to investigate allegations of parents launching abusive complaints against teachers.
“(SMOE) plans to actively cooperate to police investigation and conduct a thorough and broad investigation into teachers,” he said, explaining that the office plans to take a complete enumeration survey with the city's teachers if necessary.
At the national level, Education Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Lee Ju-ho also pledged to "decisively eliminate irrational systems and customs" to protect teachers during a meeting with educators at the Korean Federation of Teachers' Association (KFTA) office in Seoul, Friday.
“Any kind of infringement on educational activity by a teacher is not acceptable in any circumstances,” Lee said, “The education ministry will work harder to protect teachers' authority and ensure their educational practices are legally safeguarded, and thereby create a balanced education environment.”
Lee said the ministry will reform the student human rights ordinance and support legislative actions to enhance protection for educators, while verifying facts around the teacher's death and taking responsive measures.
To encourage respect for educators' authority, teachers nationwide plan to organize a series of vigils for the deceased teacher, Saturday, calling for a thorough investigation as well as preventative measures against future incidents.