An elementary school teacher has stabbed an eight-year-old girl, a pupil at an elementary school in South Korea.
Police reports said the female teacher, who is in her 40s, has confessed to stabbing the student in the central city of Daejeon.
The girl was found with stab wounds on the second floor of a school building at 18:00 local time (09:00 GMT) on Monday and was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Police said the teacher was found beside her with stab wounds that they said may have been self-inflicted.
Meanwhile acting president Choi Sang-mok ordered an investigation into the case that has left the country in shock and appealed to relevant authorities to “implement necessary measures to ensure such incidents never happen again”.
The head of the Dajeon Western Police Station, Yook Jong-myung, said the teacher was currently recovering in hospital, adding that she had a wound on her neck that had been stitched.
The Daejeon education office earlier said the teacher had requested a six-month leave of absence citing depression on 9 December, but had returned to school just 20 days later after a doctor assessed her as being fit to work.
During her time off she had suicidal thoughts, Mr Yook said, citing testimony the teacher had provided to police.
Days before the stabbing, the teacher had displayed violent behaviour, including putting another teacher in a headlock, the education office said.
