'Don't let school troubles get you down': A teacher died by suicide a year into her posting — her family suspects workplace bullying, but the government won't say why

In February 2024, an elementary school teacher working at a Korean international school in China died by suicide. She had been posted there for just one year.

Her suicide note contained no single triggering event. She wrote that her self-esteem had "gradually crumbled" and that she had "slowly fallen apart on a roller coaster of hope and despair." The grief deepened as her family sorted through her belongings. Numerous signs suggesting she had been subjected to workplace harassment were found — in memos and a petition she had written while still alive.

More than two years and four months after her death, nothing has been established. The Ministry of Education has refused to release to the family the investigation report and witness statements from its workplace harassment inquiry. The ministry's conduct drew a rebuke from a court, which warned that it "could deepen distrust in the Ministry of Education and, by extension, in the government of the Republic of Korea."

The deceased — identified only as A — was a contracted teacher serving as a third-grade homeroom teacher at the international school in China. Phone call recordings between A's colleague and the family indicate that the school had a divide between dispatched teachers, sent by the Korean government, and contracted teachers hired locally. Dispatched teachers monopolized key positions and held authority over contracted teachers' contract renewals, creating a clear supervisory hierarchy over them.

The family alleges that two of the nine faculty members — both dispatched teachers — ostracized A. In the recordings, a fellow contracted teacher told the family: "Our statuses were different." She added that the dispatched teachers "wouldn't return greetings — I experienced it myself" and that they "really disliked the contracted teachers, including A."

A petition A wrote while alive described incidents of exclusion she said she had experienced.

A did not blame those who had wronged her. She tried to work through it on her own.

A never submitted the petition to anyone outside the school. The family believes she felt there was no one in her corner. In the recordings, the colleague told the family: "I think the people who just watched from the sidelines were just as much perpetrators," adding that "the other teachers never told them to stop or tried to mediate."

Around that time, A wrote the following in her notepad.

Even through those difficult months, A was deeply trusted by her students and their parents. When word spread that she would be returning to Korea, many expressed how much they would miss her.

But by that point, A had already begun putting her affairs in order. She gave away a laptop and an electric bicycle she had cherished to people close to her, then took her own life.

Suspecting workplace harassment, the family filed a complaint in July 2024 through the government's public petition portal with the Ministry of Education, which holds supervisory authority over the school.

The investigation dragged on. The ministry repeatedly refused to provide findings, citing changes in the staff member handling the case. It was not until May 2025 that the ministry delivered a written response — and even then, it was not a formal government investigation report but an informal two-page reply. The ministry concluded that workplace harassment had not been established.

The response did not explain why the harassment finding had been rejected. It contained only the conclusion reached during the investigation.

The ministry said it had "verified whether workplace harassment occurred based on the 11 items raised" by the family, and after listing them, stated that "upon comprehensive consideration of the statements of those involved, no circumstantial evidence was found to support the conclusion that the deceased had been subjected to workplace harassment or gapjil based on a position of superiority."

The family then filed a freedom-of-information request with the ministry, asking for a detailed account of how the workplace harassment inquiry had been conducted and why it was closed. The family said the ministry's conduct "leaves the family with a wound that can never be erased — an unanswerable 'why?' and 'how could this be?'" The request was denied again, and the family ultimately took the matter to court.

The court sided with the family. The ruling itself did not constitute a finding that A had been subjected to workplace harassment.

The court overturned the ministry's refusal to disclose the information, saying the family needed to properly understand what had happened in order to grasp the truth of the case and warning that if the information remained withheld, the family's distrust of the Ministry of Education — and, by extension, the government of the Republic of Korea — could deepen further.

The 14th Administrative Division of the Seoul Administrative Court, presided over by Judge Lee Sang-deok, ruled on May 28 that the ministry's decision to withhold the records must be overturned — except for personal identifying information such as resident registration numbers and addresses of those involved.

During the proceedings, the ministry argued that the records contained personal information and that disclosing them could expose the personal feelings of those who gave statements, making it impossible for them to maintain their privacy.

The court rejected that argument, saying the information "needs to be examined by the family in order to understand the truth of the case and to pursue potential damages claims against the alleged perpetrators."

The court also noted that "the family already knows exactly who the alleged perpetrator-teacher is, based on materials left by the deceased," meaning disclosure would not result in any additional exposure of that person's personal information.

The court added that "it is clear from the statements of other colleagues that the relationship between the deceased and the alleged perpetrator-teacher was poor," and that "the family needs to know the alleged perpetrator's account in order to properly understand what happened."

The court said it was "difficult to find any special reason to withhold the information now that the workplace harassment investigation has already concluded," and that the ministry needed "to show the family that the investigation was not conducted carelessly or perfunctorily."

Finally, the court said that withholding the information "could deepen the family's distrust of the Ministry of Education and, further, of the government of the Republic of Korea," and concluded that disclosing it would not only serve the legislative purpose of ensuring transparency in government administration but would also have a positive effect in helping the family seek redress.

The family found little comfort in the first-instance ruling. The Ministry of Education filed an appeal three weeks after the verdict. The case is now pending before the Seoul High Court.

Asked for its position on the ruling, the ministry said it hoped the public would "understand that it is difficult to comment in detail as the case is currently before the courts." It added that the decision to withhold the records had taken into account the fact that "even with personal identifying information redacted, it remains possible to identify individuals who participated in the investigation process."

The family said: "We cannot understand why the state would go this far to refuse a request simply to know the cause of a family member's death." They added: "We are not trying to hold anyone accountable. We just want to know the truth."

Park Seong-uk, the attorney representing the family at law firm Seon, also criticized the appeal. "In freedom-of-information lawsuits, it is standard practice for the respondent agency to respect the court's judgment and disclose the information immediately upon losing at trial," he said. "Appealing in order to continue withholding the records is highly unusual."

Park added that he feared the court's warning would prove correct — that the family's distrust of the Ministry of Education, and of the government as a whole, would only deepen.

Thursday marks 870 days since A died.

Her family still does not know why she took her own life.

If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of self-harm or suicide, contact the Ministry of Health and Welfare's helpline at 1393, available 24/7. Please request a translator for English-language services.