The People Power Party and the government announced on the 17th that in relation to the death of the late Kim Ha-neul, who was stabbed by a knife wielded by a teacher, they would promote the 'Hanul Law,' which includes urgent measures for high-risk teachers as a preventive measure. They also stated that they would improve the reinstatement process, including immediate separation measures for high-risk teachers and psychological evaluations of teachers' mental states.
Kweon Seong-dong, the floor leader of the People Power Party, said during the 'Party-government council for strengthening school safety' held at the National Assembly that, "We will prepare measures to alleviate the public's anxiety and fill gaps in school safety."
He emphasized that "the measures for this incident are as important in terms of direction and detail as they are in speed," and noted, "While it is necessary to actively separate dangerous teachers, we must carefully design it to avoid side effects such as hiding mental illness due to fear of stigma."
The floor leader stated, "If we hide and neglect illnesses, the condition may worsen, which could pose greater risks to school safety," and expressed, "I hope that through today's discussions, we can establish effective measures where diagnosis and separation, treatment and isolation are in harmony."
He further noted that "in the medium to long term, we must listen to experts' opinions on the need for amending the Mental Health Welfare Act beyond individual legislation by occupation," and added, "Through today's discussions, we will work to alleviate parents' concerns ahead of the new school year and ensure that such tragic incidents do not occur again."
He stressed the need for a thorough investigation into the Kim Ha-neul incident. The floor leader said, "The perpetrator applied for a six-month leave of absence due to depression in December last year but returned to work after three weeks. We need to examine whether there were issues with the reason for an earlier return than initially diagnosed and that judgment, as well as whether the school properly managed teachers and protected students."
Minister of Education and Deputy Prime Minister Lee Ju-ho stated, "We will strengthen school safety and establish thorough preventive measures to ensure that there is no second Hanul," and mentioned that they would promote the Hanul Law in cooperation with the National Assembly.
He added, "The Hanul Law aims to urgently separate teachers who may pose a risk to others due to violence or aggression and to take necessary measures such as forced leave through certain procedures."
He also stated, "In cases where there are forced leave measures for high-risk teachers, we will support treatment linked to medical institutions, and we will improve procedures so that reinstatement is only possible after confirming the recovery of teachers' psychological and emotional states."
He promised to support the mental health of teachers. The Deputy Prime Minister said, "We will gather extensive opinions on plans to consider teachers' mental health from the hiring stage and support psychological testing for current teachers."
He continued, "In particular, we aim to establish policies that differentiate between common psychological difficulties and the risk of harming others," and added, "We will carefully monitor and enhance support so that teachers working diligently in the field do not suffer further injuries."
In addition, he announced that safety measures would be reviewed, including establishing a principle of face-to-face handover for 1st and 2nd grade elementary school students and support personnel for their return home, expanding the installation of CCTV in school blind spots, and increasing the number of School Police Officers (SPO).