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🇰🇷 South Korea /Health & Science

Bucheon kindergarten teacher who died after working with flu recognized as work-related death

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • A kindergarten teacher in Bucheon, South Korea, who continued working for three days while severely ill with influenza, has had her death recognized as work-related.
  • The teacher, identified as Ms. G, was diagnosed with influenza on January 27 and worked until January 30, when she left work with a high fever and later died in intensive care on February 14.
  • The recognition by the Teachers' Pension Fund is seen as a crucial step in restoring her honor and prompts calls for improved teacher health rights and public early childhood education.

The death of a kindergarten teacher in Bucheon, South Korea, who continued working for three days while severely ill with influenza, has been officially recognized as work-related. The Teachers' Pension Fund's deliberation committee acknowledged the link between the teacher's death and her job, overturning an earlier postponement of the decision.

I’m crying because I’m so sick.

— Ms. GA message sent by the teacher during the period she worked while ill with influenza.

The teacher, identified as Ms. G, was diagnosed with influenza on January 27 but continued to work until January 30, when she left work with a fever close to 40 degrees Celsius. She was admitted to intensive care and passed away on February 14. During her time working while sick, she had messaged, “I’m crying because I’m so sick.”

It was not easy to confirm similar cases when applying for work-related accident recognition.

— Labor Attorney for Ms. G's familyExplaining the challenges in establishing precedent for the work-related illness claim.

Recognizing work-related illness for kindergarten teachers has been challenging due to the broad scope of their duties, unlike health teachers whose roles are more clearly defined. The labor attorney for Ms. G's family noted the difficulty in finding similar cases for the application, but highlighted evidence of a widespread influenza outbreak among the students at the kindergarten during the period Ms. G was working.

We sincerely welcome the decision of the Teachers' Pension Fund's deliberation committee to recognize this as a work-related accident.

— Korean Teachers and Education Workers' UnionExpressing satisfaction with the official recognition of the teacher's death as work-related.

The Korean Teachers and Education Workers' Union welcomed the decision, calling it the first step in restoring the deceased teacher's honor. They urged the Ministry of Education to implement fundamental measures to guarantee teachers' health rights and strengthen the public nature of early childhood education.

This should be the first step in restoring the deceased's honor. The Ministry of Education should use this as an opportunity to prepare fundamental measures to guarantee teachers' health rights and strengthen the public nature of early childhood education.

— Korean Teachers and Education Workers' UnionCalling for systemic changes following the recognition of the work-related death.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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