By Kang Shin-who
Staff reporter
A top Gyeonggi Province educator, who supports the progressive teachers' union, said he plans to reprimand unionized public school teachers who were indicted for having paid dues to the minor opposition Democratic Labor Party (DLP).
According to the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education, Friday, Kim Sang-gon, who was re-elected as the education superintendent of the region with support from unionized teachers, said he will refer all of the indicted teachers to the disciplinary committee.
Kim's aids said the top educator has long discussed the issue with several lawyers and law professors, after having been instructed by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to take punitive action against the politically-active teachers.
However, he failed to meet the deadline, which was set for June 11. Earlier Kim refused a request by the ministry to punish the unionized teachers, who signed an anti-government statement last year. As a result, the ministry filed a lawsuit against Kim for neglecting his duty.
Under the legislation, teachers and public civil servants are barred from participating in political activities and having membership to a political party.
However, other city and provincial offices for education that have liberal-minded superintendents through the June 2 local elections have yet to decide whether to reprimand the indicted teachers or not. Out of the 16 city and provincial education offices, six will be led by educators backed by unionized teachers.