Webtoon artist Joo Ho-min expressed his position regarding the special education teacher, who was acquitted in a retrial for allegedly emotionally abusing his son.
On the 10th, Joo Ho-min explained on his YouTube channel community, "As we resume broadcasting, I will briefly touch on the previous trial. In the first trial, the special education teacher was found guilty of child abuse, while the second trial resulted in a not guilty verdict."
Joo Ho-min claimed, "Many people seem to think that the second trial's not guilty verdict meant that 'the teacher's actions were not abuse, but rather legitimate educational activities,' as judged by the court. Consequently, there have been many sarcastic comments saying, 'Congratulations. Your son wasn't abused.' However, that is not true."
Joo Ho-min stated, "The second trial's judgment did not assess whether the teacher's remarks were abusive. The evidence of those remarks could not be used as evidence due to the Communication Privacy Protection Act. The court ruled it as 'illegally obtained evidence' and delivered a not guilty verdict without even reviewing the content. Yet some are stating it was recognized as legitimate educational activity. That is a clear distortion."
Joo Ho-min noted, "This Supreme Court ruling is very important. It is not merely an issue concerning our child's case but could serve as a standard for how children who struggle to voice themselves and socially vulnerable groups can be protected in the future. I intend to continually correct any distortions or misunderstandings in this process."
The Suwon District Court's 6-2 Criminal Appeals Division (Director General Kim Eun-jung, Kang Hee-kyung, Kwak Hyung-seop) held a trial for special education teacher A's appeal regarding violations of the Special Act on the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes and acquitted him, overturning the original ruling. Previously, the first trial had suspended a fine of 2 million won against A.
A was charged with emotionally abusing Joo's son B (then 9 years old) during class in the customized learning classroom at the elementary school where he worked on Sept. 13, 2022, with comments such as, "You're really ugly; what's in your head?", "Your habits are very bad," and "I hate you. I also dislike you; I really dislike you." This case was investigated after Joo's side reported A to the police based on recordings placed in their son's outerwear.