The police issued summons for 69 leaders of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ Union (KTU, Jeon Gyo Jo) and the Korean Government Employees’ Union (KGEU) on charges of joining the Democratic Labor Party (DLP) on Jan. 25. In response, KTU and KGEU are strongly protesting and said, “The police are acting with a malicious intent to root out KTU and KGEU.”

An official of Seoul’s Yeongdeungpo Police Station said, “The station issued summons to the 69 members of KTU and KGEU who joined the DLP and paid party membership dues on charges of violating the law governing government employees.” The official explained, “Those who received summons violated the law by joining a political organization and paying party membership dues.” The official added, “The police plan to investigate a total of 290 persons, including 69 individuals who have already received summons.”

Park Yong-man, the head of Yeongdeungpo Police Station’s investigation team, said, “We have uncovered evidence during our investigation into KTU’s current emergency declaration affair and have secured proof of this by tracing their bank accounts and emails.”

In response, the KTU protested by issuing a statement saying, “The current administration has openly revealed its intention to paint the current issue of the emergency statements in political colors as a result of the recent not-guilty verdicts that have been successively issued.”

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