Teacher groups are calling for a fact-finding probe and measures to prevent a recurrence after a private high school teacher in Icheon, Gyeonggi, died amid conflict with the school following a public-interest report on campus corruption. The Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) raised suspicions of retaliatory bullying by the school and urged a responsible investigation by education authorities.
According to the education community on the 22nd, a teacher in his 50s, identified as A, who worked at a private high school in Icheon, Gyeonggi, fell to death the previous afternoon at an apartment in Janghowon-eup, Icheon. Police, based on the circumstances at the scene, do not suspect a crime.
In Dec. 2023, A, together with fellow teachers, was known to have raised allegations of accounting fraud and embezzlement by a school official, the principal's record of a drunken hit-and-run, and irregularities in the operation of school buses. Afterward, claims emerged that A had been sued by a school official on charges including defamation and had been subjected to workplace harassment and disciplinary pressure.
The Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) issued a statement the same day, saying, "We condemn the organized harassment and retaliatory repression by the private school foundation that ultimately drove the public-interest-reporting teacher to death," and called for a fact-finding investigation. The KTU argued that pressure from the school continued after the public-interest report in the case and demanded a responsible response from education authorities and the private school foundation.
Other teacher organizations, including the Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations (KFTA), the Gyeonggi Federation of Teachers' Associations, and the National Union of Private School Teachers, also called for measures to prevent a recurrence, saying it should be investigated whether protections for whistleblowers functioned properly.
Police are investigating the exact cause of death.