"My Goddess," "I Want to Hug You"... Additional Letters from the President of the Korea Teachers' Union to His Student Revealed

Park Jeong-hyun, Newly Appointed KCTU President, Faces Controversy Over Inappropriate Past Letter
Letter to High School Senior Student Included 'I Love You'
"It Was to Support and Encourage Entrance Exams... No Sexual Misconduct"

Park Jeong-hyun, the newly appointed president of the Korea Federation of Teachers' Associations (KFTA), has been embroiled in controversy after it was revealed that he was disciplined in the past due to his relationship with a student. Newly uncovered evidence shows that he sent letters containing phrases such as “my goddess” and “I want to hug you” to the student. On the 25th, the education media outlet Chang reported, “We have obtained copies of 12 letters believed to have been sent by President Park to a high school senior in 2013,” and disclosed their contents. It is reported that two of the letters were handwritten, while the rest were typed in Word.

Park Jeong-hyun, newly elected as the 39th President of the Korea Federation of Teachers' Associations on the 20th, becoming the youngest ever to hold the position.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Among these, one letter begins with “My beloved ○○” and includes the lines, “I was so nervous every time you came during roll call,” and “All the other students around me disappeared, and only you were visible. I wanted to hug you immediately.” The letter ends with the phrase, “I love you, and I love you again.”

Other letters reportedly contained inappropriate content such as “I love you more today than yesterday,” “The sound of rain falling on the car and your scent,” “I thought about you a lot while sleeping in the dorm yesterday,” “I saw my goddess,” “I love you deeply,” and “Although I couldn’t wave my hand cheerfully, I know you were looking at me too.”

Previously, it was revealed that Park, who was elected as the 39th president of KFTA, was disciplined with a ‘reprimand’ by a disciplinary committee and transferred to a nearby middle school in 2013 while serving as the homeroom teacher for a high school senior at a school in Incheon. This raised suspicions of sexual misconduct. Some students attending the school at the time claimed that Park’s behavior was not mere favoritism and that he handed notes to a particular student saying things like “I love you” and “Your scent is in the car.”

In response, KFTA acknowledged that Park was disciplined for ‘violation of dignity maintenance’ but denied any sexual misconduct or inappropriate physical contact. On the 22nd, Park stated, “I sent notes to encourage and support a student who I thought could achieve good results in the entrance exam with a little more effort. That may have been a bit excessive.” He also emphasized, “I have never had an inappropriate relationship with a student or committed sexual misconduct.”

Park did not provide any further explanation regarding the newly revealed letters. The KFTA stated, “There is no change from the position released on the 22nd,” and added, “President Park acknowledges that his special attention and encouragement toward the student were inappropriate and sincerely apologizes.”

According to the ‘2012?2014 Teacher Disciplinary Action Status’ obtained from the Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education by the office of Kang Kyung-sook, a member of the National Assembly’s Education Committee from the Justice Party for Innovation, the reason for Park’s disciplinary action was “inappropriate letter exchange with a student.” On the same day, Representative Kang said, “Everyone should recognize that it is all President Park’s fault,” and added, “It is only proper for the head of KFTA to clearly reveal the sexual misconduct allegations and decide his own course of action.”