"King DNA" education official accused of bullying teacher apologizes

Social Affairs

Published: 13 Aug. 2023, 19:12 Updated: 13 Aug. 2023, 19:32

"King DNA" education official accused of bullying teacher apologizes

Teachers hold a protest in front of Jonggak Station in downtown Seoul on Saturday. The teachers are demanding that teachers' rights be restored as many of them have suffered from disrepects and overbearing parents. [YONHAP]

An education ministry official who came under fire Friday for allegedly abusing his position to bully a teacher while referring his child with "DNA of a king" has offered an apology.

In a statement released Sunday, the former official, identified only by his family name of Seok, said he was truly sorry for hurting teachers and school staff.

“It hurts me that because of this incident, my gratitude to teachers who have guided and protected my child will be harmed,” Seok said. “As a lower-level government official for the past 20 years, I have supported educational activities with the utmost respect for teachers.

“However, I wasn’t able to wisely handle the issue concerning my own child, who is of borderline intelligence.”

Seok was accused of sending a bullying email to a teacher that included a list of so-called rules to follow in the classroom.

He said the rules were simply guidelines provided by a therapeutic institution, not ones he created himself.

“When I told the principal that our family was working on the treatment of our child, I was advised to turn in any related information, which I did to the homeroom teacher,” Seok claimed.

He said he now realizes that the teacher who received the email might had been offended without knowing the whole story.

“I never thought that the teachers’ feelings would be hurt from the institution’s guidance, which was provided out of desperation to help my child, who was struggling to adapt in class,” Seok wrote.

He said the only issue he raised was how his child, who is “slow” and struggling to adapt in class, was left alone in a classroom and struggled to eat lunch.

Seok said he never intentionally abused his power in the education ministry to pressure teachers.

A cartoon on GG Brain Power's Instagram that claims there are children with ″DNA of a king,″ and thus shouldn't be raised like others. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The official had received criticism, especially online, for sending an email to a teacher in Sejong that contained nine rules for addressing a student.

According to the nine rules, students with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have the "DNA of a king" and must be addressed as such.

According to the rules in the letter, teachers must never use negative words such as “no” or “stop"; never force the child to eat anything that he or she may not want; always side with the child when in an argument with friends; never address the child in a commanding tone; always make exaggerated gestures; always issue compliments and apologies and always allow the child to refuse to go to school.

Seok had reported his child's third-grade homeroom teacher last year to the authorities for child abuse. The teacher faced disciplinary action, including being removed from teaching classes.

Seok accused the teacher of leaving his child alone in a classroom after he refused to attend class held in another room.

However, the police and the prosecutors’ office dropped the case without any charges.

Seok then sent the list to a newly appointed teacher through his work e-mail, which made it clear he was an official in the Ministry of Education.

According to Seok, the guidance came from a private institution, GG Brain Power Research Institute.

The founder and CEO of the institute, Kim Eui-chul, said children with ADHD have "right brains" that are extremely developed.

In particular, Kim argues that children with active right brains are special and must be treated as such.

He claimed in his book that people with so-called “King DNA” include Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven and even Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk.

Kim also claims these historic figures were able to become who they are because their parents recognized their talents and allowed them to do whatever they liked.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]