Nearly two cases a day of infringements on teachers' authority, such as injury and assault, were found to occur. In contrast, disciplinary measures for offending students are weakening, prompting concerns that the education field is under threat.
On the 20th, according to data submitted by Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kim Jun-hwan, a member of the Education Committee of the National Assembly, from the Ministry of Education, cases of injury and assault targeting teachers averaged 1.8 per day in the first semester of 2025. Daily averages for teacher-targeted injury and assault cases were ▲0.7 in 2021 ▲0.3 in 2022 ▲1.4 in 2023 ▲1.4 in 2024, a 2.6-fold increase when comparing last year with 2021.
The share of injury and assault among all deliberated cases of infringements on teachers' authority was 15.1% in the first semester of 2025, up 5.1 percentage points (p) and 2.9 percentage points (p) from 10% in 2023 and 12.2% in 2024, respectively. Other types infringing on teachers' educational activities in the first semester of 2025 were intentional disruption of educational activities (26.9%), insult and defamation (25.4%), and sexual violence and causing sexual humiliation (10.1%).
Disciplinary measures for offending students were instead weakening. The share of "transfer or expulsion," which separates the offending student from the victimized teacher, was 8.9% in the first semester of 2025, down 3.1 percentage points from 12% in 2023. In contrast, the share of "community service," the lightest discipline, rose 15.5 percentage points from 24% in 2023 to 39.5% in the first semester of 2025.
Lawmaker Kim Jun-hwan said, "Infringements on teachers' authority have gone beyond simple deviation and reached a level that fundamentally threatens teachers' lives and the education field," and added, "We need to increase support for victimized teachers and prepare practical measures that can prevent secondary harm."