(123rf)
(123rf)

The number of teachers who quit before the legal retirement age of 60 has increased for the third straight year in 2024, a local media report showed Tuesday.

According to media agency Newsis, 9,194 elementary, middle and high school teachers quit in 2024, up 11.1 percent from 8,279 in 2020. Since declining slightly to 8,207 in 2021, the annual figure went back up to 8,510 in 2022 and 9,171 in 2023.

The report cited Ministry of Education data submitted to Rep. Jin Sun-mi of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea.

The data revealed a significant increase among younger teachers who worked for five years or less, climbing to 450 in 2024, a 33.6 percent increase from 2020.

Around 90 percent of teachers across the country see the high turnover of young teachers as a severe issue, according to a May survey by the Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations. The same survey showed that 40.9 percent of the respondents attributed the phenomenon to infringement of teachers' rights.

Elementary schools accounted for the largest share of teachers quitting in 2024. Of the total 9,194 teachers who resigned, 3,858 were from elementary schools, followed by 2,863 middle school teachers and 2,472 high school teachers.

A survey by the Korean Educational Development Institute showed that 30.2 percent of elementary school teachers in the country had a negative attitude toward teaching in 2023, almost double the 17 percent recorded in the same study a year before. 2023 was also the year when a young teacher in Seoul was found dead in her classroom in an apparent suicide, triggered by extreme work-related stress linked to complaints from students' parents.

The researchers of the 2023 survey said the incident appears to have led to more teachers "experiencing depression, guilt and concern regarding the diminishing rights of teachers."

If you’re thinking about self-harm or suicide, dial the Suicide Prevention Hotline at 109, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Please request a translator for English-language services.


minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com