"The Family Suffers Severe Pain"
The family of the late Kim Haneul, who was murdered by her teacher at an elementary school in Daejeon, has filed a damages lawsuit of over 400 million won against the perpetrator, Jaewan Myung, as well as the school principal and the Daejeon city government.
On the 24th, the family announced that they had submitted a complaint for damages to the Daejeon District Court against Jaewan Myung, the principal as the administrator, and Daejeon city as the employer. The plaintiffs are demanding that the defendants jointly pay approximately 410 million won to Haneul's parents and sibling.
Kim Sangnam, an attorney at YK Law Firm and the family's legal representative, stated, "The family continues to suffer severe pain due to Jaewan Myung's act of murder," and explained, "Not only does Jaewan Myung have a duty to compensate for damages, but the principal, as the administrator, and Daejeon city, as the employer, also bear responsibility for ultimately failing to prevent the incident."
He continued, "The principal, who was responsible for managing and supervising Jaewan Myung as a teacher, failed to take appropriate personnel actions despite signs of abnormal behavior, such as Jaewan Myung assaulting a fellow teacher. Therefore, the principal is responsible for the occurrence of the incident." He further explained, "Daejeon city, as the local government that established and operates the public elementary school, also has a joint responsibility to compensate for damages resulting from Jaewan Myung's violations."
Previously, on February 10, Jaewan Myung allegedly took Haneul, who was on her way home after finishing an after-school care class at an elementary school in Daejeon, to the audiovisual room and killed her with a weapon he had purchased himself. He had been receiving treatment for depression since 2018, took medical leave on December 9 last year, but ended his leave early and returned to work at the end of the same month.
According to police, Jaewan Myung stated, "I became irritated just three days after returning to work. The vice principal prevented me from entering the classroom." Investigations also revealed that, a few days before the crime, he had exhibited threatening behavior, such as breaking a computer and assaulting a fellow teacher.
Additionally, according to the prosecution's indictment, Jaewan Myung searched terms such as "murder," "how to kill a person," "carotid artery stabbing," and "medical student murder case" on his mobile phone four days before the crime. On the day of the crime, he also searched "Incheon elementary school murder case" and "elementary school student murder," indicating that he had premeditated the method of the crime.
This has led to criticism that the response of the education authorities was inadequate. At a plenary session of the National Assembly's Education Committee held in February, members questioned the education authorities about why Jaewan Myung had not been removed from the school environment, stating, "Haneul's death was a man-made disaster."
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