Defiant Educator Indicted for Negligence

Kim Sang-gon,
chief educator for Gyeonggi Province

By Oh Young-jin
Staff Reporter

A protracted legal battle is expected over the prosecution's indictment of Kim Sang-gon, the 60-year-old top educator of Gyeonggi Province, for his refusal as instructed by the government to take disciplinary action on 15 unionized teachers for their issuance of an anti-government statement.

In its indictment Friday, prosecutors said that Kim, the superintendent of the Gyeonggi Province Office of Education, refused a direct order to discipline members of the progressive Korean Teachers and Education Workers' Union, who criticized government policy.

Kim's legal tussle comes amid a shift in the country's political atmosphere that is fast turning conservative and stressing law-and-order under the current government.

"Kim was ordered to send the 15 teachers to the disciplinary committee by Nov. 1, following two separate instructions that were sent to him on Oct. 1 and 25 but he refused," the prosecutors said. "It is a clear violation of the pertinent regulations."

The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, which pressed charges against Kim, argued that legal precedents back its indictment, citing rulings by the Supreme Court that found an Ulsan district office head guilty of his refusal to discipline civil servants who participated in a strike.

"The decision confirmed that Kim's action constitutes an act of deliberate negligence."

However, the top Gyeonggi educator said that it is not a matter of neglecting duties but about the constitutionally-guaranteed right for freedom of expression.

"I put on hold the disciplinary action because I see the teachers' action as part of their inherent right to voice their opinions," Kim said, insisting that it was not the government but the courts that should have the final say.

Through his lawyer, Kim claimed that the negligence charges slapped on him can only be applied when a public servant takes an absence without leave or boycotts his official duties, leading to a disruption to the operation of government affairs or damage to the property of the nation.

"Even in those cases, the law is very selective as seen in the past Supreme Court rulings," he said, explaining his refusal is tentative until the court makes a decision, and that he is therefore doing nothing legally wrong.

Kim's standoff with the prosecutors comes following a series of inconsistent rulings to similar cases.

District courts in Jeonju and Daejeon found the progressive teachers not guilty for their political statements, taking them as acts of free expression, while two other district courts came back with guilty verdicts, saying that the teachers' political activities may have ill effects on students, parents and eventually on the nation.

Kim's court battle is expected to affect his chances in the June 2 local elections, in which he has all but declared his anti-government candidacy.

foolsdie@koreatimes.co.kr

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