Unionized teachers found guilty of 'anti-government' campaign

Unionized teachers found guilty of 'anti-government' campaign

By Yi Whan-woo The Supreme Court upheld a lower-court ruling against unionized teachers for their anti-government activities, Thursday. The ruling was on a 2009 collective statement by the progressive teachers criticizing the Lee Myung-bak government for an alleged suppression of democracy. The majority of justices upheld the lower court’s decision that ruled against three members of the progressive Korean Teachers Education Worker’s Union (KTU), who were charged for collective action banned under the public service law. “Expressing partial political ideas is a violation of political and educational neutrality required by educators,” a judge said. “Such acts infringe on the public’s trust.” The three “politically-biased” teachers include a Daejeon district union leader surnamed Lee, who was slapped with a 2 million won fine in a previous court ruling. Lee organized the group of teachers in his district in June 2009 to participate in the “anti-government” movement. He was also charged for his failure in reporting the specifics on campaign to police in advance. The government filed a lawsuit against him for allegedly violating the teachers’ union law, which prohibits political activity. He was also charged with violating the public service law that bans any group activities. The two other teachers, surnamed Kim and Oh, were also found guilty of collective action against the government. Each of them was ordered to pay 700,000 won. Some justices, however, were skeptical about the court’s decision. “It’s not clear whether those teachers caused any social risk to the public, and I don’t think their action violates the law,” one said. The nationwide “anti-government” campaign caused the administration to put pressure on the KTU in 2009, including a raid of the union’s headquarters by police and disciplinary actions against the union members.

yistory@koreatimes.co.kr