By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter

The prosecution said Tuesday it would crack down on civil servants and teachers engaging in political activities ahead of local elections slated for June 2.

The decision came after police said they had found that some 290 members of unions representing progressive teachers and government employees either participated in rallies organized by a left-wing party or financially supported it on a regular basis.

Under the current law, people working for state agencies, including teachers, are banned from engaging in political activities.

Police plan to summon 69 suspects for questioning and widen their investigation to 800 other members of the unions based on information that this was not a solitary case.

"This is a grave threat to the authorities and fair elections," said a prosecutor familiar with the issue. "We have secured ample evidence for investigation and to prove they committed a crime."

According to prosecutors, they obtained information that the suspects had engaged in illegal political activities during a probe of "progressive" teachers accused of participating in rallies against the conservative Lee Myung-bak government last July.

The two unions lashed out at the decision, arguing that it was a politically oriented investigation that gave an advantage to conservative candidates in the elections while suppressing progressive forces.

"We've never encouraged them to participate in political rallies. But the authorities are trying to associate the problem with all union members," the two said in a statement. "Police recently raided the headquarters of the two unions and confiscated key data for their investigations. It's an apparent attempt to suppress all members just because of our ideological differences."

Lawyer Kwon Young-kook, who represents the accused union members, said, "It's undue suppression in a society where freedom to participate in political activities is guaranteed by the Constitution."

pss@koreatimes.co.kr