 Seoul Education Office Chief |
Kwak No-hyun, the liberal superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SOME), has triggered a dispute over the office’s plan to build an official residence for diplomatic and foreign guests.
The education office announced Monday that it seeks to push a bill to revise an ordinance for the construction of an official residence which will be used and administered by the SMOE.
``The need for such a residence comes at a time when there are frequent visits to Seoul by both foreign and local VIPs for various affairs, along with the need to reinforce the security of the superintendent and vice superintendent,’’ the office said in a statement.
While other education offices, including Gyeonggi and Gangwon, have been managing such residences for superintendents and vice superintendents, the Seoul office has not had access to such a building.
As the first liberal superintendent in 55 years, Kwak has been known to break with formality and bureaucracy.
Kwak has been leading the campaign to free students from restrictive rules on school uniforms and hairstyles, abolishing physical punishment altogether and also offering free school lunches.
His plan on the official residence is drawing strong criticism from conservative teachers groups.
``To be frank, it’s hard to understand the reasons for the Seoul office to pursue such a plan. The budget has already been cut due to free lunches. It seems they are not prioritizing properly when planning their budget. Why would they want to build a public residence all of a sudden?’’ asked Kim Dong-seok, spokesman of the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Associations.
The funds for building and managing the residence will come from the Seoul office’s budget, which has already been through some rough obstacles regarding the provision of free lunches for all students.
The revised ordinance is subject to review by the Seoul Metropolitan Council.
“Since the residence is a public facility that aims to allow easier and freer communication between foreign and local figures, we are looking into various ways to cut the cost of building it,’’ said Cho Shin, director at the SMOE’s department of public information.
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