Presidential secretary for education abruptly resigns
President Park Geun-hye shakes hands with Greg Rickford, Canadian minister of natural resources, after she arrived at Ottawa International Airport, Saturday (local time). / Yonhap
By Yi Whan-woo
Song Kwang-yong Ex-presidential secretary for education and culture
Song Kwang-yong, senior presidential secretary for education and culture, resigned over corruption allegations, according to a source from the ruling Saenuri Party Sunday.
The source said Song, 61, is suspected of illegally receiving a large sum of extra pay from an affiliated institution of Seoul National University of Education (SNUE) during his term as the president there between 2007 and 2011.
It also turned down the opposition party’s speculation that Song’s resignation was politically motivated.
According to Cheong Wa Dae, Saturday, he tendered his resignation to return to teaching, which was accepted immediately.
President Park Geun-hye tapped him to take the job at the presidential office on June 12.
The main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) earlier on Sunday called for a clear explanation on Song’s decision, claiming it may have been politically influenced.
Song quit amid the conflicts between the conservative government and progressive-minded educators over educational issues.
“We ask Cheong Wa Dae to give a convincing reason why Song stepped down suddenly,” the NPAD said in a statement, Sunday. “Song says he wants to pursue his career on the education field but it is not reasonable at all considering he accepted his job at the presidential office recently.”
Claiming Song carried out his latest job “fairly well,” the NPAD said there are suspicions behind his withdrawal.
The opposition party pointed out that Park accepted Song’s resignation without dissuading him from doing so before her departure on Saturday for a seven-day visit to Canada and the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
It also said Song quit a day after the Incheon Asian Games kicked off on Friday. The quadrennial sporting event will run through Oct. 4.
“It is a presidential secretary for education and culture’s mission to make sure the Asian Games runs successfully,” the NPAD said.
It went on to say the President has not been successful in her efforts drive for educational reform.
On Friday, the Seoul High Court said the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU), a progressive teachers’ union, should be recognized as a legal trade union until it makes the final decision on a related trial.
The KTU has appealed to the high court against the lower court’s ruling in June that deprived of KTU’s 14-year-old status as a legal trade union. Such ruling came after the Park administration outlawed the KTU in October 2013 due to its repeated refusal to deny membership to fired teachers.
The NPAD speculated Song’s withdrawal also may stem from his “uneasy relationship” with Education Minister Hwang Yoo-yea.
Hwang, also the deputy prime minister for education, society and culture, has been a close aide of the President for years.
According to the opposition party, both Song and Hwang have failed to make a compromise in dealing with education superintendents who push for reform in school policies. Thirteen of the 17 top education chiefs across the country are liberal-minded. Their policies include one-hour delay in school start time to 9 a.m. for high school students in Gyeonggi Province and a plan to shut down “elite schools,” including foreign language schools, in Seoul.
Song built his career as a chief at the various education institutions, such as the Korean Society for the Study of Teacher Education (KSSTE) in 2011 and Korean Educational Administration Society in 2010.