Data shows students' persistent violence against teachers in Gyeonggi Province

Lee Seung-oh, youth committee chair of the Korea Federation of Teachers’ Associations, speaks at a press conference in front of the National Assembly in July 2023. Photo by Yoon Seo-young

About 150 cases of physical assaults by students on teachers are reported each year in Gyeonggi Province alone, authorities said.

According to the Gyeonggido Office of Education on Sunday, cases of students undermining teacher’s authority and the school system across 2,700 schools in Gyeonggi Province were recorded at 1,213 in 2023, 947 in 2024 and 442 during the first half of 2025.

Of these cases, there were 164 incidents of students physically assaulting teachers in 2023, 148 in 2024 and 69 during the first half of 2025.

The findings indicate an overall downward trend in incidents of students undermining teachers’ authority following the death of an elementary school teacher in 2023 and subsequent set of laws enacted to protect teachers’ authority.

The number of physical assault cases against teachers, however, does not reflect the same trend, with the most recent incident occurring just last month in a middle school in Gwangju, where a student pushed a teacher and inflicted injuries needing two weeks of hospital stay. Last year, a middle schooler swung a baseball bat at a teacher and caused a bone fracture.

As serious attacks on teachers continue, experts point to what they describe as slap-on-the-wrist punishments for student misconduct.

Among disciplinary measures imposed on students, suspension was the most common, with 602 cases in 2023, 295 in 2024 and 125 in the first half of 2025. School community service was the second most common punishment.

Disciplinary transfer accounted for 122 cases in 2023, 67 in 2024 and 36 in the first half of 2025. Meanwhile, eight students were expelled over such cases in 2023, one in 2024 and four in the first half of 2025.

“Lenient punishments such as mandatory education programs and school community service are not enough to prevent serious violations, including physical assault,” said Heo Won-hee, head of policy at the Gyeonggi branch of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union.

“The level of punishment needs to be adjusted in a more realistic way so that victimized teachers can be effectively protected,” she added.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.