Prosecutors indicate possible criminal punishment for teacher suspected of ignoring school violence

Prosecutors have recently directed police investigating a middle school teacher suspected of ignoring a bullied student to examine whether the school authority did all it could to help the student, police said Thursday, an indication that the teacher may face criminal punishment.

The bullied student jumped from a high-rise apartment in Seoul to her death in November last year after months of beatings and insults by school peers. Police booked the student‘s homeroom teacher on Monday for allegedly turning a blind eye to school violence in breach of duties as an educator.

The action came after the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office commanded the police to thoroughly check whether criminal charges can be applied to the teacher‘s suspected negligence, according to the police and prosecutors.

“We commanded the police to look into whether the school took appropriate measures while the student was bullied and committed suicide,” a prosecution official said. The directive “means the police should examine whether the case constitutes a criminal offense,” the official said, hinting that the prosecution agency is willing to file formal criminal charges against the teacher.

By South Korean law, prosecutors supervise the police agency’s investigation since the prosecution agency solely has the authority to prosecute.

After completing their probe, the police are to hand over the case to prosecutors for official indictment.

The police‘s unprecedented attempt to punish a teacher for a school violence case drew heavy skepticism among teachers and the education industry as to what extent teachers are required to act in terms of fulfilling their duties as educators.

Despite that, the police announced their official decision earlier this week to take legal action against teachers who fail to take proper action to stop violence among students as the country grapples with rampant school violence, which led to a string of suicides by bullied students.

The 14-year-old student who committed suicide after being bullied by her school peers was one of the victims. Her parents repeatedly visited the teacher last year to ask for help in protecting their daughter, but the teacher allegedly took no actions to that end, the police said. (Yonhap News)