"Only Teachers Punished?"... KTU Protests Prison Sentence Over South Jeolla Kindergarten Student's Death

Student Death During 2023 Field Trip at South Jeolla Elementary School Kindergarten
Court Sentences Accompanying Teacher to 8 Months Imprisonment, Suspended for 2 Years

After a teacher was sentenced to imprisonment following a student's death during a field trip at a kindergarten attached to an elementary school in South Jeolla Province, the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) has voiced strong opposition.

According to the South Jeolla branch of the KTU on January 22, the court sentenced the accompanying teacher to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, in connection with the accident that occurred in 2023.

In a statement, the KTU South Jeolla branch strongly criticized the ruling, saying, "This decision shifts the responsibility for an unfortunate and unforeseeable accident onto an individual teacher."

The KTU South Jeolla branch argued, "This ruling failed to sufficiently consider the confusion in command during the rescue process, delays in rescue efforts, and the passive response from the Office of Education," adding, "By oversimplifying the field trip safety accident as a 'breach of the teacher's duty of care,' the court has placed the entire responsibility solely on the teacher."

They also compared the ruling to a recent appellate court case regarding a student death during a field trip in Sokcho, where the court acknowledged the complex causes of the accident and issued a stay of execution, stating, "It is difficult to accept this verdict."

Furthermore, the KTU South Jeolla branch criticized, "Although the Provincial Office of Education and the Mokpo Office of Education submitted petitions for leniency, from the beginning of the incident to the trial, the teacher had to shoulder legal and administrative responses virtually alone," adding, "The support from the Office of Education was insufficient for the teacher to feel secure."

They expressed concern that "if such judgments are repeated, it will send the wrong message that 'teachers are always responsible for accidents,' which will discourage field trips and infringe on students' rights to experience and learn."

The KTU South Jeolla branch called on the court not to hold individual teachers criminally liable when they have done their best in field trip accidents. They also urged the Provincial Office of Education to establish a practical protection system, to conduct a comprehensive review of the field trip management system, and to suspend field trips until legal and institutional safety measures are in place.

Meanwhile, the South Jeolla Provincial Office of Education stated in its position on the same day, "This accident is a complex safety incident that cannot be attributed solely to an individual's fault," and added, "We do not agree with any attempt or perception to hold only an individual teacher infinitely responsible."

As countermeasures, the Office of Education proposed expanding support for field trip safety personnel, strengthening legal and counseling support for teacher protection, temporarily implementing 'field trips that come to schools,' and establishing legal and institutional measures related to school safety.

In particular, the Office of Education announced that until legal and institutional safety measures are improved, it will guide schools to democratically decide and operate field trips according to their specific circumstances.

An official from the Provincial Office of Education emphasized, "We must move away from viewing field trip accidents simply as 'violations of the teacher's duty of care' and instead strengthen public responsibility for the entire process of prevention, response, and post-accident support."