Teachers groups stage a memorial rally in May 2025 in front of the Jeju Provincial Education Office on Jeju Island to honor a middle school teacher who died after conflict with a student's family. (Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union)
Teachers groups stage a memorial rally in May 2025 in front of the Jeju Provincial Education Office on Jeju Island to honor a middle school teacher who died after conflict with a student's family. (Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union)

A middle school teacher on Jeju Island, surnamed Hyun, who died in May 2025 after conflict with a student’s family was officially recognized Monday as having died in the course of carrying out his duties.

According to teachers groups, a review committee that convened at the Teachers’ Pension on Monday ruled that Hyun’s death constituted a workplace death. The Teachers’ Pension is a public institution under the Education Ministry that manages pension funds for private school teachers.

“The recognition of Hyun’s death as a workplace death sends a strong warning about the failures of the complaint-handling system and the complacency of the education office that allowed them to persist,” the Good Teachers’ Movement said in a statement.

“Given that the teacher lost his life due to the school’s failure to properly respond to complaints, recognizing his death as occurring in the line of duty was a necessary step.”

If public officials, including teachers, are acknowledged as having died while carrying out their responsibilities, their bereaved families become eligible to receive state pensions and compensation.

“Beyond acknowledging the teacher’s death as being in the line of duty, a thorough audit must be conducted into the numerous problems within the Jeju Education Office revealed during the investigation,” the group added.

Hyun, in his 40s, died by suicide on May 22 in a storage unit on the campus of a middle school on Jeju Island. It was later discovered that he had suffered dealing with ongoing disputes with a student’s family.

Hyun’s family said the teacher had endured extreme stress due to repeated complaints from a student's family to the point that he was unable to eat.

A fact-finding team under the Jeju Provincial Education Office determined in October that the student’s family had infringed on educational activities.

It concluded that the school’s complaint response system failed to function properly, noting that the response team did not take full responsibility for handling the case, leaving the teacher unprotected.

Police launched an investigation, but closed the case after finding no grounds for criminal charges.

Police acknowledged that the complaints caused the teacher severe stress driven by a sense of unjust anger, but assessed that they did not rise to a criminal offense.

If you’re thinking about self-harm or suicide, contact the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s helpline at 109, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Please request a translator for English-language services.


seungku99@heraldcorp.com