Lee Ju-ho "Using Teacher Leave on September 4 May Trigger Conflict"

"Sympathy for Mourning Yes, But No Violation of the Right to Education"
Ministry of Education: "Collective Action Is Essentially a Strike"

Regarding teachers setting September 4 as the 'Day to Stop Public Education' and showing signs of using collective leave, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Lee Ju-ho requested restraint, warning that it could lead to another conflict by infringing on students' right to learn.

Deputy Prime Minister Lee made these remarks on the morning of the 27th during an appearance on KBS Sunday Diagnosis Live, pointing out that teachers' use of leave to participate in rallies could potentially be illegal.

Lee Ju-ho, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education
Photo by Yonhap News

Following the suicide of a second-year teacher at an elementary school in Seocho-gu, Seoul last month, there has been a movement among teachers to designate September 4, the 49th day memorial of the deceased, as the 'Day to Stop Public Education' and to use leave to participate in rallies. In response, Deputy Prime Minister Lee said, "I sympathize with the act of mourning (the deceased)," but also pointed out that "(using discretionary holidays or leave) could become illegal or conflict with the right to learn, potentially triggering further conflicts within the education sector."

He continued, "The National Assembly and the government have formed a four-party consultative body to build consensus and cooperate on restoring teachers' rights, so (using discretionary holidays or leave) could be contentious, provoke conflicts, and be misunderstood as political," adding, "I recommend that they refrain from doing so."

Deputy Prime Minister Lee emphasized, "The most important duty of teachers is to teach children, so rather than infringing on the right to learn, there are various ways to mourn the deceased and raise voices for restoring teachers' rights," and stated, "The Ministry of Education will actively support teachers."

Regarding the estimate that more than 80,000 teachers plan to take leave on that day, he said, "I believe the person managing the memorial participation webpage took it down because it was proceeding differently from their intention," and added, "I think there are not many places that have decided to take leave or close schools."

Previously, a teacher had posted a tally of participants for the 'Day to Stop Public Education' on their blog. As of the 25th, more than 80,000 people had expressed their intention to participate in the 'Day to Stop Public Education' on that post. Afterwards, the teacher deleted the post and stated, "The purpose of this movement was for everyone to quietly have time to mourn the deceased," and clarified that the tally was "not related to a 'rally.'"

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education issued a press release on the same day, reiterating that the collective action on September 4 is effectively a strike and constitutes an illegal act, and announced that it has distributed Q&A materials regarding relevant laws to each education office and school. According to these materials, designating September 4 as a temporary school closure day violates the Enforcement Decree of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which stipulates that 'temporary school closures must be decided through deliberation by the school operation committee before the start of each school year and can only be used during the semester in cases of emergency disasters or other urgent situations.'

The Ministry of Education further explained that, according to regulations on teacher leave, teachers' annual leave must be used excluding school days unless there are special reasons, and sick leave should only be used when the teacher is unable to perform duties due to illness or injury. The Ministry also noted that mourning the deceased can be done after classes in the evening or through online means.

The Ministry of Education stated, "We will inspect whether academic operations and duty management at schools are being properly conducted and will strictly respond to illegal acts according to laws and principles."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.