'SEM119: By Teachers’ Side’ ... Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education’s Teacher-Rights Protections Recognized by the Ministry of Education

[Financial News] The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education’s emergency support team for protecting educational activities, ‘SEM119,’ has been selected as an outstanding case by the Ministry of Education. The team’s education supervisors and dedicated lawyers at Seoul’s 11 district education support offices review cases and provide one-stop connections to on-site response, legal assistance, conflict mediation and psychological support.
SMOE said on the 11th that, in the Ministry of Education’s ‘2026 Evaluation of Metropolitan and Provincial Offices of Education,’ Seoul’s policy for protecting educational activities, centered on SEM119, was selected as an outstanding case among cities in the ‘Protection of Teachers’ Educational Activities’ category.
The Ministry of Education cited Seoul’s system for protecting educational activities—which links prevention, response and recovery—as an outstanding case. The system includes SEM119’s one-stop support, the 100-Lawyer Panel Accompanying Teachers, Emergency Classroom Safety SEM and tailored psychological counseling for teachers. SMOE plans to share the case at a performance-sharing conference for the evaluation of metropolitan and provincial offices of education, to be held in Jeju this December.
According to SMOE, SEM119 supported a total of 3,638 cases from March through August, the first half of the 2026 school year. That exceeds the 1,715 cases supported over the whole of last year. In user satisfaction surveys, the share of respondents who rated their satisfaction as satisfactory or higher was 94% this year, following 93% last year.
Support provided in the first half of the year totaled 4,191 instances, including overlapping services: 2,390 instances of information provision, 809 of legal assistance, 760 of emergency classroom support, 109 of psychological counseling, 66 of conflict mediation, 52 of educational support and 5 in other categories. The figures include initial consultations and information provision, and multiple types of support may be provided for a single case.
The 100-Lawyer Panel Accompanying Teachers, a legal support program, provides tailored assistance to teachers facing difficulties due to child-abuse reports and other issues, through lawyer consultations, preparation of written opinions and accompaniment during investigations and inquiries. Emergency Classroom Safety SEM helps stabilize classes and classrooms by urgently providing support staff to classrooms.
SMOE plans to strengthen initial consultations and dedicated case-by-case support in 2027. It is pursuing a plan to assign one staff member dedicated to initial consultations and intake to each of the 11 district education support offices, strengthening telephone responses and connections to specialized support.
For cases requiring ongoing support, SMOE plans to introduce a ‘1:1 Dedicated Case Management System’ to strengthen follow-up by checking the progress and resolution of disputes and whether the same conduct recurs.
In addition, in line with the establishment of a Teacher Rights Policy Division in January 2027, SMOE plans to strengthen the support system at district education support offices. As part of its 2027 organizational restructuring, it also plans to establish a School Legal Support Team within the Administrative Management Office to provide a unified point of contact for legal assistance.
Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Superintendent Geun-sik Chung said, “Seoul’s education system will stand with teachers so they don’t have to bear things alone,” adding, “From the moment they ask for help through their recovery and the process of continuing educational activities in a stable way, we will ensure the support they need remains by their side.”  

[email protected] Kim Man-gi Reporter