'"King's DNA" Teacher Bullying Officer: "Some Treatment Institution Data... Sorry to the Teacher"'

"Children with Borderline Intelligence Cannot Cope Wisely"

It has been revealed that a Ministry of Education official reported their child's homeroom teacher for child abuse and continuously interfered with educational activities. The official stated that the materials sent to the teacher were "part of the documents from the treatment institution."

The Ministry of Education official, Mr. A, who was reported to have exerted so-called 'gapjil' (abuse of power) toward the child's homeroom teacher, expressed in an apology letter released to the media on the 13th, "I sincerely apologize for causing emotional distress to the teacher and school staff related to this incident."

Mr. A said, "I have worked as a lower-level public servant for 20 years, respecting teachers more than anyone else and actively supporting educational activities. I believed that respecting teachers was essential for children to grow up healthily. However, I failed to respond wisely due to my concern for my child with borderline intellectual functioning."

He continued, "The materials I gave to the homeroom teacher were not arbitrarily created by me but were part of the documents from the treatment institution. While consulting with the principal, I explained the efforts I made for our child's treatment, and the principal said it would be helpful to have related information, so I delivered it to the new homeroom teacher. Since I sent the materials by email without sufficient explanation of the context, it must have been an absurd demand and caused discomfort," he explained.

Education Minister Lee Ju-ho is briefing on measures to enhance the competitiveness of public education at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 21st. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

He also added, "As a parent, I could not just stand by when I learned that my child, who has developmental delays and difficulty adapting to school, was left alone in the classroom, did not eat lunch, and that a post listing the bad and good points about my child alone was uploaded on the School Bell Notification app for the entire class. However, I never once mentioned my workplace or that I am a Grade 6 public official during this process," he added.

He further stated, "I respect the decision of the School Teachers' Rights Protection Committee and will promptly comply with the committee's decision. Once again, I sincerely apologize for causing concern to the teachers at that time."

According to the National Elementary School Teachers' Union on the 11th, Mr. A reported Mr. B, a teacher at an elementary school in Sejong, for child abuse at the end of last year, and Mr. B was immediately suspended from his position. The letter Mr. A sent to Mr. B reportedly contained phrases such as "Never say 'Don't do that' or 'No,'" and "Because the child has the DNA of a king, they understand everything even if you speak indirectly as if talking to a prince," which sparked controversy. At the time, the Ministry of Education was aware of the situation but reportedly only issued a verbal warning to Mr. A without any disciplinary action.