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Korean Teachers Union Attacks Police for Detaining Teachers

Teachers present no threat to public

SEOUL, Jan 25, 2007 /KTU/ -- National Security Agents of the Seoul Police Agency searched the homes and schools of two former directors of the Korean Teachers Union unification committee on January 12th. The police confiscated teachers' personal property.

Police arrested the teachers on January 18th and took them to an office of the National Security Agency for interrogation.

When the teachers had been called upon to appear for questioning on January 16th, they made it clear that they would appear the following week, after locating an attorney. The fact that the police agency couldn't wait for a week strongly suggests that their accusations were groundless and that the police intended to manipulate the results of their investigation.

The main reason for their arrest, according to the warrant, is that they possessed and distributed materials concerned with sungun politics (North Korean politics in which military takes precedence over any other concern). If they were indeed arrested for posting an image related to this subject on the webpage of the KTU local in Seoul, then police should have investigated the minister of education first. Not only does the Ministry of Education operate the Internet Peace School, the ministry also encourages schools to make use of images on the site for both unification education and to enhance classroom environments.

These pictures are found on most ministry websites, along with questions such as "What are the characteristics of North Korean politics?" and "What is sungun politics and why does the North Korean government emphasize this?" It's absurd for the government to single out a picture related to sungun politics from the dozens of pictures about the lives of North Koreans available on the KTU website, when the Ministry of Education uses similar pictures on their websites in order to encourage students to learn more about sungun politics.

Indeed, the government should investigate the Chosun Ilbo newspaper as well, as it also possesses and distributes materials about sungun politics. From NK Chosun, operated by the Chosun Ilbo, anybody who has a membership with NK Chosun can download original North Korean materials concerning sungun politics. It's utterly anachronistic for the government to arrest anyone for the possession of materials that are available on internet.

One of the former directors of the KTU's unification committee in Seoul, was awarded a prize by the Ministry of Unification for creating the best example of a unification education curriculum. The KTU appointed him director of the unification committee in an effort to revitalize unification education. What on earth does the Ministry of Justice think might have happened to this teacher? Does the government really believe that he has turned into a spy in a couple of years?

It is their responsibility, as social studies and moral education teachers, to study North Korean politics. There can be no plausible justification for the arrests of these teachers, for activities that they should be carrying out as teaching professionals. To make matters worse, the security police have fabricated a story that the teachers downloaded some documents from the banned website GuGukJunSun, though neither has ever accessed this site.

Similar cases in 2006

Last year, the Busan police agency attempted to make an issue of a teacher workshop organized the KTU local in Busan. The police decried the workshop as "communist activity," but they were unable to locate evidence that the teachers were violating the National Security Law. Then, a unification event held by Guanchon Middle School in Junbuk was described as a communist event held in memory of a partisan, but it turned out that there was insufficient evidence to support the charge, as well. Now it appears that the government has extended the witchhunt nationwide with this case in Seoul.

About the two arrested teachers

Mr. Choi was awarded a prize by the Ministry of Unification for designing the best example of a unification education curriculum on October 10th, 2000. Mr. Kim's class, which received input from North Korean teacher, was widely reported by media as an excellent example of unification education. Mr. Kim's class was supported by both the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Unification.

Mr. Kim was expelled from college for participating in the movement against the military regime in 1977, arrested for taking part in the Buma protest movement (this movement hastened the collapse of the military regime), and dismissed from his position for his work in organizing the Korean Teachers Union in 1989. He had been reinstated in 2003 and designated a "national enabler for democracy" by the government. Ironically, this time he has been arrested on the same charges that the military government used against him in 1979.

Contact: Hwang Hyun-su, Chair of International Cooperation Committee, Incheon district, KTU, 82-10-208-5482.

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For images of the posters that purportedly violate the National Security Law, visit Education International

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