0		Report:, Serious, Loopholes, Background, Checks, Korean, Teachers

The Chungcheongbuk-do Office of Education is being severely criticized after a teacher was arrested by police for sexually assaulting a female student.

31-year old Mr. Min, who was working as a teacher in a middle school in Cheongju, was arrested on the 7th for sexually assaulting a girl who had run away from home after taking her to a motel in January and for sexually assaulting another girl in a noraebang a month later.

The provincial office of education has taken action after every case of a teacher engaging in immoral conduct, but is being criticized for not doing more to prevent similar cases occurring again and again.

Ethical problems among teachers have come to light as a result of the current case, but the issue of sex scandals among teachers is not of just today or yesterday.

In May of last year a teacher at a middle school in Cheongju was fired for having had an improper relationship with a female student.

The teacher's offense is currently being considered by parents and police, but the school has so far not treated it lightly, accepting his letter of resignation and recommending the office of education revoke his teaching license.

In April of last year a teacher at an elementary school in Cheongju was accused of sexually molesting five students in class after having them sit on his knees during lessons, and in March of the same year a middle school teacher harassed female students during class.

After every scandal the provincial office of education made an announcement to the effect of, "we will implement needed systems to prevent bad acts from being committed by teachers and to strengthen their own consciences and understanding, and also begin anti-sexual harassment training for teachers."

And again after the current scandal a member of the office of education said, "we regret this incident, but anti-sexual harassment training is being conducted periodically in schools where ethics training is needed and sexual education pamphlets are being distributed to schools."

That is clearly little different from companies that hold anti-sexual harassment training once a year, put the video file online and distribute some pamphlets.

The same member of the office of education asserted, "when a sexual-assault type of incident occurs a heavy criminal punishment follows and they cannot work in education," referring to the law on educational employees, which restricts the filling of education positions with those who have committed sex crimes against minors.

Educators are saying this incident is a measuring stick of the need for ethical standards to be stronger for teachers than for other people.

A member of the police investigating the case said, "this teacher had many previous convictions. He had never received a prison sentence, but he had many times had to pay fines for assault. I don't understand how someone like this could become a teacher."

But the Cheongju middle school principal who hired Mr. Min said in an interview with Yonhap News that, "we conducted a criminal background check on Mr. Min and the police said he had no history."

Similarly, Mr. Min had taught students at several other schools.

The conflicting statements from the principal and the police demonstrate the existence of gaps in the legal system meant to hold teachers to the highest ethical standards.

The school conducted a criminal background check but was unable to learn of any criminal history other than sexual assaults of minors.

Current law provides that criminal background checks will not refer the existence of fines after two years have elapsed, of prison sentences of no greater than three years after five years have elapsed, or prison sentences greater than three years after 10 years have passed.

The law allowed Mr. Min to work at first this school, then that school, despite his crowded criminal history.

One educational authority said, "the law needs to be reformed so that teachers teaching students are held to the highest ethical standards through broader criminal background checks."