The Wee Class scene where an elementary school student assaulted their teacher in April [JEJU TEACHERS UNION]
Friday is Teacher's Day in Korea and education authorities launched an investigation after an elementary school student assaulted a teacher for 20 minutes at a school in Jeju.
An upper-grade elementary school student assaulted a teacher for about 20 minutes at a Wee Class counseling center at an elementary school in Jeju City in mid-April, according to the Jeju teachers' union on Friday.
A Wee Class is a school counseling and support space for students experiencing emotional or behavioral difficulties.
The student had reportedly been receiving separate guidance over a conflict with another student when the student suddenly began throwing objects and attempted to go outside through a third-floor window.
When the teacher tried to stop the student, the student allegedly punched and kicked the teacher several times and threw chairs and other objects. The assault stopped only after five school staff members, including the principal and vice principal, arrived at the scene.
The teacher suffered injuries requiring two weeks of treatment and is currently receiving psychiatric treatment for insomnia, anxiety and depression caused by the incident. The case has been submitted to the Jeju City Office of Education’s regional teachers’ rights protection committee at the teacher’s request.
“I hope no one else experiences what I went through,” the teacher said through the teachers' union. “Proper educational measures should be taken so the student can reflect on the behavior, and a safe educational environment must be created where teachers’ duties and responsibilities are not neglected.”
“This incident revealed the structural limitations of forcing individual teachers to handle students placed in separate guidance programs alone,” the union said.
The union also called to improve the system where a single teacher is solely responsible for students requiring separate guidance, expand support for the Teachers' Authority Protection Committee's specialized response team, and increase the number of teacher members.
It additionally urged authorities to improve school civil complaint response systems, support the recovery of affected teachers and review protection measures for school administrators.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
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