Daejeon Teacher Killed with Weapon, Caused Disturbance by Twisting Fellow Teacher's Arm Four Days Earlier

Violent Behavior Including Twisting a Colleague’s Arm
Education Office: "No Further Leave Possible for the Same Medical Condition"

In an incident at an elementary school in Daejeon, teacher A stabbed student Kim Haneul (8) to death with a weapon. It has been revealed that A had exhibited violent behavior at the school just four days prior.

According to the Daejeon Metropolitan Office of Education and the police on the 11th, A threatened another teacher by twisting their arm on the 6th. When a colleague approached the crouching A and asked, "What’s going on?" A suddenly twisted the colleague’s arm and caused a disturbance.

The police are conducting an on-site inspection in the audiovisual room on the second floor of the elementary school where the incident occurred. Photo by Yonhap News

A’s behavior was severe enough that nearby teachers had to intervene, but the incident was not reported to the police. Afterwards, the school strongly recommended that A take a leave of absence. A took leave due to mental health issues and returned to work in December last year as a subject-specialist teacher.

The school expressed the need for countermeasures regarding this issue to the Daejeon Metropolitan Office of Education, but the request was rejected. The education office explained, "Further leave is not possible with the same medical grounds."

A police official stated, "Related information came up during the investigation, but the exact facts need to be confirmed at the education office’s briefing scheduled for today."

Earlier, on the 10th at around 4:30 p.m., Haneul’s parents reported her missing to the police after being informed that she had not arrived at her academy. Location tracking showed Haneul’s phone was in the school’s second-floor audiovisual room, where school staff found Haneul and A collapsed. The police faced difficulties in determining the initial circumstances and identifying suspects due to the absence of CCTV at the scene, but the teacher confessed to the crime that afternoon.

Haneul’s father said, "It’s unacceptable for someone suffering from depression to return to school and teach students. I feel that he lost control and killed my child. The school must take strong responsibility."