9·4 Rally Announcement, Lee Ju-ho Appeals to "Protect Schools"... Education Office Holds 'Memorial Ceremony'

Lee Ju-ho Issues Appeal and Teachers Try to Dissuade
Education Office Holds Memorial Ceremony for Seoi Elementary School

On the 4th, ahead of the 49th-day memorial service for the teacher who died in the 'Seoi Elementary School Incident,' Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Lee Ju-ho appealed to the teachers who had announced a rally, urging them to "protect the school by staying close to our students" and participate in school classes. On the same day, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education plans to hold a memorial service at Seoi Elementary School.

In an appeal on the 3rd, Deputy Prime Minister Lee said, "I pray for the repose of the teacher who tragically passed away last July and extend my deepest condolences to the bereaved family."

Currently, among teachers nationwide, there is a growing movement, mainly through online communities, to conduct a covert strike on the 4th by taking personal leave, sick leave, or discretionary holidays to hold memorials. In response, the Ministry of Education has classified the teachers' collective action as a de facto strike and stated that disciplinary actions, including dismissal or removal, are possible. A teachers' group named 'All Together as One' is reported to plan individual memorial activities in front of the deceased teacher's school in the morning of the 4th and hold a memorial rally in front of the National Assembly from 4:30 p.m.

Regarding this, Deputy Prime Minister Lee said, "Over the past few weeks, in the sweltering heat, I have listened to the desperate cries of teachers. I have come to understand how many wounds lay behind the passion teachers have shown for their students in the classroom and how they have protected the classroom while carrying those wounds."

He added, "Although the time was short, the Ministry of Education has prepared comprehensive measures to restore and strengthen teachers' rights, reflecting teachers' voices, as well as regulations on teachers' student guidance, to improve the reality of numerous infringements on teachers' rights and the unreasonable systems that caused them."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

However, he firmly opposed the covert strike on the day, saying, "Our students need their teachers," and urged, "Teachers, please protect the school by staying close to our students."

Deputy Prime Minister Lee said, "We will make further efforts at the Ministry of Education and metropolitan and provincial offices of education to promptly restore the wounded teachers' rights so that teachers no longer feel anxious and can focus on education."

Meanwhile, at the education office level, a memorial service will be held that day. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced in a press release that on the 4th at 3 p.m., a 49th-day memorial service for the Seoi Elementary School teacher will be held in the auditorium of Seoi Elementary School in Seoul. Attendees include Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education; Lim Tae-hee, Superintendent of Gyeonggi-do Office of Education; Jung Sung-guk, President of the Korea Federation of Teachers' Associations; Kim Yong-seo, Chairman of the Teachers' Labor Union Federation; and Jeon Hee-young, Chairman of the National Teachers' Union.

A separate memorial space for the general public will also be prepared at the memorial service and will be open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

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