One education inspector assigned as first point of contact

Legal experts, counselors to follow in one-on-one support

Teacher acquitted on appeal; Supreme Court ruling still pending

Webtoon artist Joo Ho-min leaves court after the first-instance sentencing hearing for the special education teacher in February 2024. [Yonhap]
Webtoon artist Joo Ho-min leaves court after the first-instance sentencing hearing for the special education teacher in February 2024. [Yonhap]

The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education has assigned a dedicated teacher-rights protection officer to a special education teacher who was indicted on charges of emotionally abusing the son of webtoon artist Joo Ho-min but was acquitted on appeal.

The office's Teacher Rights Protection Unit, which operates directly under the superintendent, recently classified the case of the teacher, identified only as A, as a "child abuse complaint" and decided to extend support to her, the office said Tuesday.

A was indicted without detention on charges of emotionally abusing Joo's son — who was 9 at the time — in a special-needs classroom at an elementary school in Yongin in 2022. She was accused of making remarks such as, "Your manners are absolutely terrible. Ugh, I hate this. I'm so sick of it. I said I don't like you. I don't like you either. I really don't like you."

The investigation began after Joo placed a voice recorder in his son's bag and used the recording to file a child abuse complaint against A.

The trial court admitted the recording as evidence and suspended a 2 million won ($1,490) fine against A, but the appeals court overturned that ruling and acquitted her, finding that the covert recording captured a conversation between parties other than the recorder and therefore fell under the Communications Secrets Protection Act as an inadmissible private exchange. Prosecutors have since appealed to the Supreme Court, where a final ruling is pending.

When a teacher-rights violation report is filed, the Teacher Rights Protection Unit categorizes it under one of three areas — child abuse complaints, educational activity violations (including assault, physical violence and threats), or malicious civil complaints — and then reviews the case to determine whether the unit should provide direct support.

Following that process, the unit assigned A a full-time education inspector as her primary protection officer. The decision reflected the gravity of the case, including the fact that it has dragged on for years.

The unit plans to further assign legal and counseling professionals — drawn from a pool of 300 teacher-rights protection officers selected through open recruitment — to provide A with one-on-one tailored support.


th5@heraldcorp.com