Out-of-Control Expat Teacher Tortured Korean Students With Detergent

A teacher at an elementary school in Seoul was fired after punishing students for misbehavior by forcing them to drink from a choice of detergents.

A South African teacher of English working in a South Korean elementary school was fired from her job last week after it emerged that she had forced children in her class to drink detergent as a punishment for speaking Korean in class.

Officials from the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education reported that the teacher was forced to leave her post after parents of children in her class of sixth-graders complained to the school that on March 12, she had punished five students in her class by forcing them to ingest either dishwashing liquid or anti-nail biting fluid.

The teacher responded to the complaints by saying that the children drank only small amounts, and that there was no coercion on her part, according to the report, which reveals that two students chose to drink the anti-nail biting fluid, and three the dishwashing liquid. 

Lee Byung-in, the vice principal at the private school, Hanyang Elementary in Seoul, told the press that the teacher was immediately dismissed after the complaints were received, and that a replacement teacher has already been hired.

South Korea is home to an estimated 25,000 expatriates working as English teachers, who are attracted by generous salaries and employment packages as the Korean government pushes to raise the population's familiarity with the English language. However, this high demand for staff has led to concerns about low hiring standards; many of the teachers who receive jobs do not possess specific teaching qualifications.