A South Korean teacher has denied reports by a U.S. weekly magazine that he had conducted anti-American lessons during class.

Time magazine reported in its recent Asian edition that a South Korean elementary school teacher had likened the United States to an "evil dragon" that was hindering the unification of the two Koreas.

The teacher said he had compared a storybook tale of two young lovers on opposite sides of a river not being able to meet to the situation of the separated Koreas, but he had never compared the United States to an evil dragon.

The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development said it would look into the report, saying the alleged anti-American teachings are not a part of South Korea's elementary school curriculum.