After the Seoicho Incident, Introduction of 'Superintendent's Opinion Submission'
'Low Rate of Case Closure Before Police Investigation Start'
"Cases Should Be Resolved Before Referral if Superintendent Judges Justified"
4.8% Final Prosecution Rate Among Prosecutor-Closed Cases
Even after the introduction of the 'Superintendent Opinion Submission System,' it has been found that a significant number of child abuse reports deemed legitimate by superintendents still lead to police investigations.
According to the National Assembly Legislative Research Office on the 6th, Research Fellow Lee Deok-nan pointed out in a recent issue analysis report that "despite superintendents submitting professional opinions recognizing the cases as legitimate educational activities and life guidance, more than 7 out of 10 cases were not closed before the start of police investigations." This means that 7 out of 10 teachers involved in cases acknowledged as legitimate by superintendents undergo police investigations, and the cases are forwarded to prosecutors.
Following the Seoicho incident in 2023, the revised 'Special Act on the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes' mandates that when a child abuse crime is reported and investigated concerning a teacher's conduct during educational activities, the relevant superintendent must submit an opinion that local government heads, judicial police officers, and prosecutors are obliged to consider. The purpose is to prevent the suppression of educational activities due to indiscriminate child abuse reports against teachers.
However, a year after the system's implementation, the Ministry of Education conducted a comprehensive 11-month investigation of case handling across 17 city and provincial education offices nationwide. The results showed that among cases where superintendents submitted opinions recognizing the activities as legitimate educational conduct, 5.7 out of 8.5 cases closed as no charges were forwarded to the prosecution. Research Fellow Lee analyzed, "The rate of case closure before the start of police investigations for cases where superintendents submitted opinions remains low at 28.2%," adding, "This indicates that the legislative intent of the five laws protecting teachers' rights is not being properly reflected in decisions on whether to initiate police investigations."
He urged that the legislative intent behind introducing the superintendent opinion submission system should be appropriately reflected in expanding case closures at the police stage. If cases deemed legitimate by superintendents through investigations are resolved promptly before being forwarded to prosecutors, it could improve situations where teachers undergo lengthy prosecutorial investigations only to be ultimately not indicted. In fact, while 71.8% of cases proceed to police investigations and prosecution referrals, only 4.8% of cases closed by prosecutors result in final indictments.
He also added that the Ministry of Education needs to design guidelines such as the 'Guidelines for Preparing Superintendent Opinion Statements and Reference for Investigation and Prosecution.'
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