{
  "id": 4796576,
  "title": "‘디지털 혁신’에 허덕인 교사의 죽음...“순직 인정해달라”",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/01/story-4796576",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-01T03:46:39.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Hankyoreh",
    "slug": "hankyoreh",
    "url": "https://www.hani.co.kr/arti/society/schooling/1275681.html"
  },
  "original_language": "ko",
  "account": "On October 4th last year, on the eve of the Korean holiday of Chuseok, a student named In-jong (pseudonym) sent a text message to Tangjeong Middle School science teacher Yoo Ban-jin via his mobile phone. Yoo had been teaching at the school for two years, but he never responded to the message. It was then that Yoo passed away. Yoo's mobile phone contained the final message he sent to In-jong before his death: \"You were the best teacher in my school. You must have worked very hard as the temporary substitute teacher in our class.\" Tangjeong Middle School is one of the most educationally focused schools in South Korea, located next to Samsung Electronics' headquarters and Chungnam Samsung High School and Chungnam Foreign Language High School. Around 30% of Tangjeong Middle School graduates enroll at Samsung Electronics High School. Yoo joined the school in March 2023. According to his wife Kim Jasa, Yoo spent his evenings after work creating presentation materials and personalized study guides. He was responsible for managing the school's display screens, electronic teaching aids, laptop batteries, and various consumables. In addition, he served as the smart device manager in 2024 and was in charge of managing the smart devices throughout the school. Yoo was always on duty during various school events such as festivals, guest lectures, and entrance exams. His colleagues noted that Yoo often looked exhausted after managing technical equipment, such as repairing broken electronic whiteboards or carrying laptops for teachers. His mobile phone records showed that he walked 10,890 steps on his last day of work on October 2nd, mostly within the school. After his death, the smart device management work was outsourced to an external company. The South Korean teachers' union pointed out that the school's educational system is rapidly changing, but the school lacks the necessary personnel and administrative support to keep up with these changes. The school also faces challenges such as heavy workloads, social media hate speech, excessive entrance examination pressure, and school violence. Last year, a problem arose in the class Yoo had volunteered to handle as an emergency substitute teacher. Students created fake Instagram accounts impersonating the substitute teacher, posted pictures of the real teachers and made fun of them. Yoo took over emergency substitute duties in June and later became the interim substitute teacher in October. His wife shared her concerns about the increasing pressure on teachers and the potential for violent incidents at schools, especially as students prepare for entrance exams. The school hired a new substitute teacher for the upcoming semester, but another similar incident occurred, and the new substitute teacher reported it to the Teacher Protection Committee before the Korean holiday. Yoo was once again left with the task of being an emergency substitute teacher. On the evening of October 3rd, Yoo could not fall asleep and walked around the living room, seeking help from a neurologist who had diagnosed him with recurring bouts of vertigo. His neurologist advised him to seek mental health treatment. Yoo scheduled an appointment with a psychiatrist for two weeks later, when he finally took his own life on October 4th. His wife informed the local government that her husband had died of a heart attack. On the same day, Kim Ji-suk submitted a request for recognition of Yoo's sacrifice to the Chungcheongnam-do Office of Education. In an interview with the newspaper Hongseong Ilbo, she said, \"People may think that because teachers are responsible for administrative tasks, they may commit suicide. The teacher seemed to have no options left, and the education department and the government should have intervened. I remember the day very clearly. My husband was crying and said, 'I love you so much that I'm preparing a delicious meal for you.'\"",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}