Gyeonggi education office says legitimate classroom discipline must not lead to unjust criminal liability
![Gyeonggi Province Education Superintendent An Min-seok poses with officials after establishing the Teachers' Rights Protection Unit directly under his office and creating a dedicated teachers' rights protection officer system — the first of its kind in the country — to shield teachers from rights violations and malicious complaints. [Gyeonggi Province Office of Education]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/10/08/news-p.v1.20261008.2c2bf8c5187c4b34b672cce6ac5f93b1_P1.jpg)
An elementary school teacher whose case was designated the first matter taken up by the Gyeonggi Province Office of Education's Teachers' Rights Protection Unit has been cleared of child abuse charges.
The Bucheon Branch of the Incheon District Prosecution Service declined to indict Teacher A of Bucheon Ojeong Elementary School on charges of violating the Child Abuse Punishment Act, according to legal sources Thursday. A had been criminally charged and sued in a civil action by the parents of a student identified as B after A intervened to mediate a dispute between children. B's parents also staged a protest with picket signs in front of the school.
Police investigated the case and forwarded it to the prosecution service with a recommendation of no charges. Under current law, child abuse cases must be referred to the prosecution service — formerly the prosecutors' office — regardless of whether charges are warranted. The prosecution service determined that A had committed no child abuse and issued a non-indictment decision in line with the police recommendation. Earlier, the Teachers' Rights Protection Committee had recognized B's parents' conduct as an interference with educational activities.
The Gyeonggi Province Office of Education had formed its Teachers' Rights Protection Unit, designated this case as its first, and filed a complaint with police against B's parents in August. In a statement issued Thursday, the office welcomed the decision, saying it "carries great significance in reaffirming the principle that a teacher's legitimate classroom guidance must not give rise to unjust criminal liability." The office added, however, that because child abuse cases must go through the prosecution service regardless of whether charges are warranted, it took about four months from the filing of the complaint in May to the non-indictment decision. It said it would reform the teachers' rights protection system to ensure swift and appropriate dispositions in the future, and pledged to safeguard both teachers' rights and students' right to learn.
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