hankyoreh

Byun Sung-ho

With the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) announcing that it will issue a political statement signed by teachers opposed to state-issued Korean history textbooks, the South Korean Education Ministry threatened to take firm action by pressing charges against participating teachers.

“Since we are planning to respond sternly according to law and principle if teachers participate in a petition campaign or a political statement opposing state-issued history textbooks, we asked municipal and provincial offices of education to carefully administer the work of their teaching staff,” the Ministry said in an Oct. 21 press release.

“We will take disciplinary measures and initiate criminal proceedings against teachers who sign a political statement or who attend unauthorized demonstrations. Teachers must refrain from large-scale group action so as not to weaken trust in public school education, and they must faithfully do their jobs,” the Ministry warned.

Immediately after the sinking of the Sewol ferry in 2014, the government indicted teachers who posted criticism of the government or who left school early to join demonstrations.

The KTU held a press conference on Oct. 20 and announced that teachers would be issuing political statements and using their yearly vacation time for demonstrations. “If the government ignores the voice of the people and pushes forward with its policies in a situation where opposition to state-issued Korean history textbooks is spreading like wildfire, we will have no option but to initiate an all-out struggle,” the KTU said at the press conferences.

In this political statement, the KTU said, it plans not only to disclose the names of the participants but also the schools where they work.

“Since the introduction of state-issued textbooks is a controversial topic that would shake the foundation of education, there is more support than ever for the view that teachers must not remain silent about this. We will not back down despite the Education Ministry’s plan to take disciplinary action,” KTU spokesperson Song Jae-hyeok said.

By Um Ji-won, staff reporter

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