hankyoreh

Oct. 21

By Park Ki-yong, staff reporter and Koo Dae-sun, Daegu correspondent

On Aug. 29, one day after the Constitutional Court upheld the ban on political activity by members of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU), Jongno Police Department applied for warrants for three members - KTU chairman Kim Jeong-hoon, senior vice-chairman Lee Young-joo and one teacher who posted a critical comment on the Blue House website.

The North Gyeongsang Province Office of Education decided to take disciplinary measures against two full-time staff members of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU), suspending them for a month.

After a court revoked the KYU’s official union status, the Ministry of Education ordered full-time KTU staff to return to their positions at schools, but they are refusing to obey the ministry’s orders. This was the first time a municipal or provincial education office took disciplinary action against the 29 full-time KTU staff around the country who have not gone back to their jobs.

On Aug. 29, the North Gyeongsang Office of Education said that its disciplinary board met on Aug. 28 and decided to issue one-month suspensions for two staff member who were refusing to return to their teaching positions. They are a private high school teacher surnamed Lee, 48, the head of the North Gyeongsang KTU chapter, and a public elementary school teacher surnamed Kim, 44, the KTU secretary general.

The one-month suspension chosen by the North Gyeongsang Office of Education is a milder punishment than the dismissal ordered by the Education Ministry. The Ministry instructed municipal and provincial education offices to dismiss full-time KTU staff members who refused the order to return to school.

The decision to issue a one-month suspension is being seen as a desperate move to follow the instructions of the Education Ministry while also avoiding friction with the KTU. A source at the North Gyeongsang Office of Education explained that the disciplinary board had decided to just suspend the teachers because of concerns that dismissing them from their positions was excessively harsh and could cause chaos in the classroom. Education experts believe that the North Gyeongsang office’s decision to opt for suspension could have an effect on the disciplinary action taken against KTU full-time employees at other regions that are in a similar position.

The KTU opposes the decision and has announced its intention to take legal action. A statement issued by the North Gyeongsang chapter of the KTU said, “There is no telling why the provincial education office was the first in the country to decide to take disciplinary action against these teachers. It is unclear whether the office is working in the interest of students or in the interest of the Office of Education.”

“The chapter head and secretary general will do their work at the North Gyeongsang chapter office through the end of the year irrespective of the one-month suspension, which begins on Sept. 1. We are thinking about filing an administrative lawsuit to argue that the provincial office’s disciplinary action was unjust,” said Lee Yeong-ho, spokesperson for the North Gyeongsang KTU chapter.

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