Top Seoul educator under fire for ’biased’ personnel decisions

By Na Jeong-ju

Seoul’s top educator Kwak No-hyun is drawing fire over a plan to promote his aides and increase the number of his secretaries, which critics call a move to ditch officials opposing his reform plans and tighten his grip on policymaking.

He recently picked two members of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ Union, an avid supporter of his policies, along with one of his aides to sidestep the regular procedure and automatically become public school teachers.

It’s unprecedented for the top educator to use his authority to influence the process to be selected as a public school teacher, according to officials from the education office.

Some local newspapers reported that he would designate some of his aides to crucial posts at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE) and increase the number of his secretaries from the current seven to nine, citing anonymous sources.

Kwak became furious over the reports and told his staff to find the person who leaked the information to the media, SMOE officials said. Ultimately, he transferred a senior official of the personnel department to an institute in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday.

Such decisions are being criticized as being tyrannical by even some of his liberal supporters.

“Kwak is acting like the boss of a private entity. He is misusing his authority,” said Lee Jeom-hui, an SMOE unionist. “The union plans to hold a one-man protest until he withdraws his decision.”

His personnel appointments have also added fuel to the conflict with the education ministry. Irked by his designation of union members as public school teachers, the ministry urged Kwak to withdraw the decision or it would take administrative action.

“The appointment should be reconsidered because it lacked transparency and fairness,” said Kim Tae-hyung, a ministry official.

The 58-year-old liberal educator has been at odds with the ministry over his school policies, which conservatives say are radical or unrealistic. Analysts say the conflict represents a widening ideological divide between the conservative government and liberal-controlled education offices.

SMOE and the ministry are currently engaged in a legal battle over an ordinance on enhancing students’ rights, one of Kwak’s signature projects.

Kwak implemented the ordinance on Jan. 26 despite the ministry’s opposition, just days after he was released from jail.

He had been under custody since being indicted in September last year on bribery charges. A district court found Kwak guilty and fined him 30 million won ($26,400) without imposing a jail sentence, so he was able to return to work. Shortly afterwards, the ministry filed a petition with the Supreme Court to invalidate the ordinance.

With an appeals court ruling on Kwak’s bribery case scheduled for March, observers say he is under growing pressure to keep his projects rolling despite challenges. The worst-case scenario for Kwak is that the court delivers a jail sentence and puts him behind bars again. In that case, his duty will be suspended once more.