Summary: Teacher Criminally Fined for Punishing First-Grade Students in South Korea

A South Korean court fined an elementary school teacher 2 million KRW (about USD 1,500) for child abuse.

The teacher, a homeroom teacher for first graders at an elementary school in Boeun, North Chungcheong Province, was in their 40s.

The incident occurred in November last year inside a classroom.

The teacher punished two first-grade students by:

Flicking their heads (“ttakbam”).

Forcing them to repeatedly sit down and stand up for 5 to 10 minutes.


The punishment was given because the students:

Struggled with basic addition and subtraction.

Did not understand odd and even numbers.


In a separate incident the same month, the teacher also:

Verbally abused one of the students after catching him playing a mobile phone game in class.


The court ruled that:

The actions constituted physical and emotional abuse.

Other students who witnessed the punishment were also emotionally harmed by fear.


The judge acknowledged mitigating factors:

The teacher appeared to be motivated by a desire to improve students’ learning.

The teacher had no prior criminal record.

The teacher had served as a dedicated educator for many years.


Despite these factors, the court concluded the conduct crossed legal boundaries and warranted punishment.

Article: https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20251212065100064?input=1195m