President Lee Jae-myung on Tuesday instructed officials to "gather opinions from all sectors, including teachers, parents, and experts, on school field trips through an open discussion process."
Kang Yu-jung, senior spokesperson for the Presidential Office, conveyed the president's instructions during a briefing on the senior secretaries' meeting. "The president directed the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Justice to review whether there are any unreasonable burdens regarding the legal responsibilities and liability exemptions of teachers," Kang said.
Earlier, President Lee had remarked, "I heard that schools are not going on picnics or field trips anymore." He added, "Picnics and field trips are part of the curriculum, and there are things students learn through group activities, but there is a tendency to avoid them due to concerns about safety incidents and being held accountable for supervision." After raising the safety issue, Lee said, "If there are problems with group activities such as picnics or field trips, we should fix them, and if there are safety concerns, we should provide funding to reinforce safety personnel or hire additional staff to accompany them as supervisors and safety officers."
In response to Lee's remarks, People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk criticized the president at the party's Supreme Council meeting that day, saying, "The president is demonizing innocent teachers by claiming they avoid picnics and field trips to escape responsibility." He argued, "If an accident occurs during a field trip, the teacher becomes a criminal with a record," adding, "And if safety personnel are increased, a two-night, three-day field trip will cost 600,000 won ($440), making it impossible for students from low-income families to even go."
Despite such criticism, Lee's directive to relevant ministries to identify unreasonable burdens and gather public opinion through open discussion is interpreted as a move to address the issue.
