1What changed — the Ministry of Education's comprehensive plan
On August 23, 2023, the Ministry of Education announced the "Comprehensive Plan to Restore and Strengthen the Protection of Teachers' Rights." The key change is that school complaints are now handled by institutions such as the school principal, not by individual teachers.[1]
- Each school runs a complaint response team of about five people, including the vice principal, head of the administration office and education support staff.
- Teachers have the right not to respond to complaints made to their personal mobile phones and the right not to answer complaints unrelated to educational activities.
- Complaint channels, such as online complaint systems, are reorganized around the institution.
When complaints are routed to the school's main number, how those calls are recorded and managed becomes crucial.
2“This call may be recorded”
On September 5, 2023, the Ministry of Education distributed a call connection tone to schools nationwide that notifies parents in advance that their call to the school is being recorded.[2]
But if there is only an announcement and calls are not actually recorded, no record will remain to protect staff when a dispute arises.
3Many schools still lack recording phones
Recording equipment must be funded from the school budget and is not mandatory, so situations vary by school. It's common for only one or two phones in the teachers' office to be recorded while administration office and grade office phones are not.
4Is call recording legal?
What the Protection of Communications Secrets Act prohibits is a third party not participating in the conversation recording other people's conversations. A school staff member recording a call they are part of does not fall under this.
However, because institutional call recording may constitute personal data processing, it is advisable to have the following in place.
- Recording notice before the call connects (using the ringback tone above)
- Internal school rules covering retention period, access rights and destruction procedures
- Logging of access to recording files
This is general guidance. For specific cases, consult your education office's legal support or a legal professional.
5School complaint call checklist
- We've confirmed that the school's main number and all teachers' office, administration office and grade office phones are recorded
- A “This call may be recorded” notice plays before calls connect
- Teachers' personal mobile numbers are not disclosed to parents
- The complaint response team and call transfer order are defined
- There is a procedure to end the call and notify a supervisor in case of verbal abuse or threats
- Retention periods and access rights (principal, vice principal, etc.) for recording files are defined
- Recordings can be found instantly by date, number or content when needed
6What happens after recording matters more
If recording files just pile up, you can't find them when you need them. EduRecording, a recording system built for education, goes beyond recording and automatically handles the following.
- Converts every call to text (transcription) and summarizes key points
- Detects emotional words such as verbal abuse and profanity and alerts admins
- Separate permissions: teachers see only their own calls, admins see all
- Automatic complaint response reports, stored securely on Google Cloud
Learn more about EduRecording Request a free demo
Sources
- Edu Plus, “[Comprehensive Plan to Restore and Strengthen Teachers' Rights] ③ ‘Complaints handled by institutions, not teachers’,” Aug 23, 2023 — Read article
- Seoul Shinmun, “‘Recorded to protect school staff’… Schools to get call ringback tones,” Sep 5, 2023 — Read article
- Seoul Shinmun, “Only 1 in 5 schools has recording phones… ‘Teachers' rights protection’ sidelined by budgets and discretion,” Aug 14, 2023 — Read article
By CANCO Co., Ltd. · As of October 2026