A video of an elementary school teacher tearfully pleading against mandatory field trips, citing parent complaints and the burden of accident liability, has surpassed 5 million views, fueling public debate over the realities facing Korean educators.
According to education sources on Tuesday, a video titled "The Real Reason Teachers Avoid Field Trips," uploaded to the Korean Elementary Teachers Union's YouTube channel on Saturday, had exceeded 5.1 million views as of 11 a.m. that day.
The video captured a "Community Dialogue for Safe Field Trips" hosted by the Ministry of Education in Seoul's Yeongdeungpo district on Friday. Kang Seok-jo, chairman of the Korean Elementary Teachers Union, said during the event, "Field trips are not mandatory. Teachers go along to share the experience with students." He added, "I used to go on eight field trips a year. I wanted to learn alongside my students. But two years ago, I began boycotting them."
Kang also shared examples of parent complaints that flood in ahead of field trips. "Parents demand things like 'Pair my child with this friend because they're close,' or 'Why are you taking them so far that they get motion sickness?'" he said. "Even after taking 200 photos of students, I get complaints like 'Why are there only five photos of my child?' or 'Why does my child look unhappy in the pictures?'"
His voice began to tremble as he turned to Education Minister Choi Kyo-jin and the parents in attendance. "Can you block these kinds of complaints?" he asked, holding back tears. "I remember the exact date. On November 14, 2025, a fellow teacher was found guilty," he said, raising his voice. "How can we possibly go on field trips under these circumstances?"
The case Kang referenced involved a sixth-grade elementary student who was struck and killed by a reversing bus during a field trip in Sokcho, Gangwon Province, in 2022. The teacher who led the trip was indicted on charges of professional negligence resulting in death and received a suspended sentence of six months' imprisonment in the second trial. The ruling was finalized after the teacher withdrew an appeal.
"Please do not force us to conduct field trips," Kang pleaded. "Create an environment where we can go voluntarily."
The video's unexpected surge to over 5 million views — posted on a channel with only about 2,000 subscribers — triggered a wave of sympathy online. Commenters wrote, "You can feel the frustration and sorrow in his trembling voice," and "Too much responsibility is being pushed onto teachers."
On October 28, President Lee had addressed the shrinking of field trips during a Cabinet meeting at the former presidential office, telling Minister Choi, "You shouldn't get rid of the jar just because you're worried about maggots," and called for institutional reform.
After teachers' groups subsequently demanded improvements to "the reality of teachers bearing criminal responsibility for unforeseen accidents," Lee instructed the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Justice two days later at a senior secretaries' meeting to "review whether there are any unreasonable burdens in teachers' legal responsibilities and areas of immunity."
The Ministry of Education has stated it is pursuing legal amendments to expand the scope of teacher immunity when safety accidents occur during field trips. The ministry is expected to announce its improvement plan as early as this month.
