Education ministry files second suit against anti-gov`t teachers

By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, Aug. 25 (Yonhap) -- The education ministry has again filed suit against
progressive teachers who participated in a massive campaign against government
education policy, upping pressure on the teachers union.
Over 28,000 teachers with the left-leaning Korean Teachers and Education Workers
Union (KTU) released a statement on July 19 denouncing conservative President Lee
Myung-bak's educational policy and its strict punishment of teachers who
spearheaded the KTU's first anti-government statement issued on June 18.
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology initially asked the prosecution
to investigate 89 leading members of the KTU for masterminding the issuance of
the first anti-government statement, in violation of the law prohibiting public
workers from engaging in political activities.
The ministry said Tuesday that it filed its second suit against 83 of them,
excluding six others belonging to the Gyeonggi Office of Education, which has
refused to recognize the suit.
"The legal proceedings affect the punishment of the teachers, so we need to
review the legal facts first," an official at the office said, adding the results
of the review are expected by next month.
In response to the Gyeonggi office's defiant action, the government said it could
use "official authority," if the request is not accepted.
"We are asking the office to accept the lawsuit," a ministry official said. "If
they keep refusing, we don't exclude the possibility of using official
authority."
ejkim@yna.co.kr
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