[Inside Chodong] "Teacher Protection Measures": Even a Small Agreement Is Needed

Teachers' gatherings differ significantly from other protests. While the media and online communities focused on the neatly aligned "sharp-angle protests" resembling a Go board, teachers who were actually on site say they remember the "tears of meeting" more vividly.

Since the tragic death of a second-year teacher at Seoul Seoi Elementary School, teachers' protests have been ongoing. The turning point for these protests was the "49th-day memorial for the Seoi Elementary teacher" held on the 4th. At that time, the Ministry of Education threatened to discipline participating teachers. Teachers are also members of society. They have families and livelihoods. If disciplined, they face disadvantages in promotions. Because of this, frontline schools found even mentioning attendance at the "Seoi Elementary teacher 49th-day memorial" burdensome.

On the 49th day memorial of the late Seo Elementary School teacher on the 4th, a student and a parent placed flowers and bowed their heads in silence at the memorial altar set up at Seo Elementary School in Seoul. Photo by Huh Younghan younghan@

On the day of the protest, teachers who saw each other's faces on site reportedly shed tears. More people showed up than expected, and especially teachers who were thought "probably wouldn't come" participated in the protest. Although they could not openly express it due to the threat of discipline, they confirmed face-to-face the unspoken understanding of "If I don't go, who will?"

The "sharp-angle protests" also reflect the teachers' temperament. They held the protest with rows and columns precisely aligned like a Go board. After the protest ended, there was not a single piece of trash left behind. There were no slogans or shouts that defamed anyone. They voiced their demands at decibel levels compliant with the Assembly and Demonstration Act. The police were reportedly the most surprised by the teachers' protest. Rather than clashes between participants and police, encouragement and consolation were exchanged. Even after the protest, on online communities based on working professionals, exchanges of "Thank you for your hard work" and "We appreciate you" occurred between police and teachers.

Despite such exemplary behavior, teachers say that "the fear grows day by day." This is also true from a professional perspective. In the ten days following the Seoi Elementary incident, five teachers made tragic choices themselves. Hearing the news of deaths almost daily, a junior reporter at the newspaper said, "I don't know if we should report this." There is concern that reports of tragic choices might push other teachers toward the same decisions.

Teachers share similar worries. One teacher said, "Nothing related to this is posted in the KakaoTalk group chat." At the beginning of the incident, they shared sad news about other teachers, comforting each other and mourning together, but now they have moved beyond that stage.

Teachers will take to the streets again on the 16th. They took a week off from protests to observe the situation, but since the government and political circles have not presented any meaningful countermeasures, they are moving again. To stabilize teachers, hope must be given to them. Although not perfect, a somewhat advanced social agreement is urgently needed. Currently, a bill to protect teachers' rights is being discussed in the National Assembly, but time is short. From the 10th of next month, all issues will focus on the National Assembly audit. After that, the review of next year's budget will begin. Once the budget review is over, the country will shift into next year's general election mode. In fact, there is less than a month left to process the teachers' rights protection bill. The ruling and opposition parties must reach an agreement within that time to give teachers at least a small hope.

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