Seoicho 1st Anniversary ... Park Jonghoon Gyeongnam Superintendent Says "A School Where Everyone Respects Each Other"

Park Jonghun, Superintendent of Education for Gyeongnam, visited the memorial space for the first anniversary of the death of a teacher from Seoul Seoi Elementary School, which was set up by the Gyeongnam branch of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union in the parking lot of the provincial office of education on the afternoon of the 18th.

Superintendent Park quietly looked around the memorial space in remembrance of the deceased. In the visitor's book, he wrote a pledge: "I will create a school where everyone respects one another."

Park Jonghun, Superintendent of Gyeongnam Office of Education, is paying tribute at the memorial space set up in the education office parking lot for the first anniversary of the death of a teacher from Seoul Seoi Elementary School. Photo by Lee Seryeong

In a previous letter, he stated, "It is July 18. It is an unforgettable day and an inescapable sorrow," and added, "We remember the teacher who left our side with longing."

"A school is a place where people meet, converse, and the threads of relationships are woven tightly," he said. "It is a place where we learn respect, peace, and the value of coexistence through life itself, but the teacher who left us makes us reflect on the current state of our education and schools."

Jonghoon Park, Superintendent of Gyeongnam Office of Education, is visiting the memorial space set up in the education office parking lot for the first anniversary of the death of a teacher from Seoi Elementary School in Seoul. Photo by Seryoung Lee

He continued, "Through the Office for the Protection of Educational Activities, newly established last March, I have come to understand more deeply the pain each teacher carries in schools and classrooms," and added, "I will ensure that reflection does not come too late, and that our measures are not ineffective by carefully observing, protecting, and supporting."

"I will faithfully uphold the undeniable truth that without teachers, there is no education," he emphasized, "and I will make sure that the value of people and the importance of teaching shine even brighter."