Chairs for a teacher and children sit in a classroom at a private kindergarten in Seoul. This photo is unrelated to the article. [Newsis]
Chairs for a teacher and children sit in a classroom at a private kindergarten in Seoul. This photo is unrelated to the article. [Newsis]

The principal of a private kindergarten in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, forged a resignation letter in the name of a teacher who died after being pressured to keep working despite a high fever and influenza, education authorities have found. The principal has been referred for heavy disciplinary action.

According to audit results obtained Thursday by the office of Kang Gyeong-suk, a Rebuilding Korea Party lawmaker on the National Assembly's Education Committee, the Bucheon Office of Education audited principal A, who ran the kindergarten where the deceased teacher, identified only as B, had worked, and requested that the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education impose heavy disciplinary measures against A.

The audit, which began March 25, focused on whether principal A had unlawfully restricted B's use of sick leave and other leave, and whether A had forged and submitted a resignation letter in B's name around the time of her death.

The audit found that B had been diagnosed with influenza B on Jan. 27 but continued reporting to work for three days to care for the children, apparently under pressure from the kindergarten or due to the workplace environment. Her condition then deteriorated sharply, and she was rushed to a hospital intensive care unit, where she died on Feb. 14.

The audit further revealed that principal A had forged a resignation letter dated Feb. 10 — four days before B's death — and submitted it to the Bucheon Office of Education, making it appear as though B had voluntarily left the kindergarten.

On the date the resignation letter was purportedly written, however, B was lying unconscious or in critical condition in the ICU and could not have written any such document.

Police booked principal A without detention in May on charges of forging and using a private document, and referred the case to prosecutors.

An official at the Bucheon Office of Education said the office had formally requested disciplinary action, explaining that the authority to discipline a private kindergarten principal must go through a vote requested via the teacher personnel division of the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education. The official added that specific details of the audit could not be disclosed while legal proceedings were ongoing.


yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com