A South Korean elementary school teacher admitted to the killing of an eight-year-old student in Daejeon following a bout of mental health issues.
The development comes as South Korean law enforcement personnel released disturbing details from the interrogation of the 40-year-old suspect. The elementary school teacher not only confessed to killing the young child but also said that the identity of the victim did not matter.
Killing an Eight-Year-Old Student
She said that she chose her victim at random and committed the chilling crime because of workplace grievances after coming back to teach. The victim in the case was identified as Kim Ha Neul, who was leaving an aftercare program before being targeted by the suspect.
The Seobu Police Station's chief, Yook Jong Myung, said that the teacher confessed to feeling resentment after experiencing difficulties when she returned to work. She also mentioned that she was prevented from resuming work to teach her students only three days after returning from medical leave, according to Koreaboo.
It was found that the teacher had been having trouble with mental health issues since 2018, based on investigation records. The suspect was revealed to have taken six months of medical leave for depression in December 2024 but unexpectedly cut it short and returned to the school at year's end.
Experiencing Difficulties After Returning To Work
When questioned, she revealed that tensions rose quickly after returning to work because she felt excluded from classroom activities. The suspect noted that she became frustrated because someone stopped her from entering the classroom.
Police are now mulling whether to disclose the murderer's identity, noting that they would consider convening a review committee after completing the necessary procedures, such as obtaining consent from the family of the eight-year-old victim, Korea JoonAng Daily reported.
When authorities found the victim, she was lying next to the teacher and was found to have injuries on her shoulders, face, and hands. She was immediately taken to a hospital at around 5:40 p.m. local time but was pronounced dead at 7:00 p.m. local time.
The suspect was found to have neck injuries and was also brought to the hospital and had to be brought in for surgery. The Daejeon Western Police Station noted that the suspect was recovering and that her neck injury was stitched.
South Korean acting president Choi Sang-mok ordered an investigation into the case and urged authorities to "implement necessary measures to ensure such incidents never happen again," as per BBC.
Originally published on parentherald.com
