Supervisors Visited School on Day of Incident and Recommended "Suspension from Work"
Sick Leave and Medical Absences Were Concentrated Last Year
It has been revealed that Myung Mo (in his 40s), a teacher who was the perpetrator in the murder case of an elementary school student in Daejeon, has received nine awards during his 26 years of teaching career, including a commendation from the Superintendent of Education.
On the 13th, Yonhap News quoted data received by Kang Kyung-sook, a member of the National Assembly Education Committee from the Innovation Party for Justice, from the Daejeon Metropolitan Office of Education, reporting, "Myung has worked at a total of six schools in Daejeon from 1999 to this year, and it is known that he transferred schools through regular personnel appointments each time."
Police cars around the elementary school in Daejeon where an 8-year-old girl was murdered. Photo by Yonhap News
During this period, Myung was in charge of various duties including homeroom teacher, gifted education, convergence talent education, science club, and traffic safety guidance. Since his appointment to the school in 2021, he consistently served as a homeroom teacher for lower grades (1st to 3rd grade). During the 2023?2024 academic year, as a 2nd-grade homeroom teacher, he was also responsible for student safety management. In December last year, Myung took a six-month medical leave but returned early within less than a month and did not take on any separate duties thereafter.
There were no disciplinary actions or complaints reported to the relevant education support office during his teaching career. He also had no prior criminal convictions from investigative agencies. Between 2000 and 2020, he received nine awards including one Superintendent of Education commendation, five Education Director commendations, two Education Director certificates, and one other certificate.
The front view of an elementary school in Seo-gu, Daejeon, where an elementary student murder case occurred. Photo by Yonhap News
Myung’s sick leave and early departures began to occur repeatedly starting from July last year. He left early increasingly frequently on July 9, August 23, September 2 and 13, and then took sick leave on October 7, October 10?11, and from October 14 to December 8. His medical leave period was from December 9 to 29.
He did not receive any counseling or treatment at the education office level. Upon returning from medical leave, he submitted a reinstatement recommendation document including a medical certificate to the school principal and the education support office. According to the education office, the certificate stated that "symptoms have almost disappeared, and normal work is expected to be possible."
At the time Myung killed Kim Ha-neul (8), who was leaving the after-school care room to go home on the 10th, it was identified that a total of 121 students participated in the after-school care room at that school. The number of students in the same after-school care class as Kim was 19. The school operates a total of seven after-school care classes for 1st and 2nd graders, with approximately 145 students participating.
On the day of the crime, two education support office supervisors visited the school, interviewed the administrator, and advised that Myung should not come to school from the next day and should take sick or annual leave. This action was taken following a report from the school about Myung’s abnormal behavior, including damaging school computers and assaulting a fellow teacher a few days prior.
The supervisors recommended that Myung submit another medical leave, and if he did not comply, they also guided the school on options such as dismissal by authority or convening a medical leave review committee. Ultimately, immediate separation measures were not taken, and Kim was killed at the school shortly after the supervisors’ visit.
Assemblywoman Kang emphasized that schools must be safe spaces for all children. She added, "Taking this incident as an opportunity, we will strive for a thorough investigation and fundamental legal and institutional improvements to ensure that such incidents never happen again."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
