What needs to be remembered here is that everyone who was part of the study seminars have the critical intellectual capacity to determine what is correct and incorrect. The seminars took place with everyone knowing the sources of the booklet’s contents, and there was active criticism of North Korea’s interpretation of modern Korean history at the seminars. It is nothing short of an insult to the country’s regular teachers - and dictatorial-era-style red-baiting - to try to make the public think the booklet was all about a one-sided teaching of official North Korean ideology, and that these teachers are going to return to their respective schools to convey pro-North thinking to young students. It would be hard to deny that our society still has some people who have the outdated desire to defend the North’s political system or its ruling elite, and hope to do so without the slightest bit of criticism. Evidence of that can be seen in the comments praising the North that have appeared on Jeon Gyo Jo’s web site from time to time. However, those are views that should be left to be weeded out in the natural course of the market of ideas, not cut away using the rusty knife known as the National Security Law. This is not something for the whole of Korean society to get excited about. For its part, the union needs to take a look at itself and see if it can be sure it has done nothing to make parents nervous.
[Editorial] Aggressive crackdown on teachers’ union publication |
The "unification committee" of the Busan branch of the Korean Teachers and Educational Workers’ Union (KTU, or Jeon Gyo Jo) is coming under attack for its recent printing of a booklet about reunification. For several days in a row now, conservative, old-establishment media and organizations have been declaring that Jeon Gyo Jo’s pro-North, leftist slant has been revealed for all to see. The police are looking into whether the union’s publication violates the National Security Law. One worries that this is going to turn into a "public security" operation and not just stop at being another case of red-baiting.
The booklet itself clearly is problematic. The first two sections are extracted almost word for word from the North Korea’s official modern state history text , or Modern History of Korea, but with few proper citations. The third section quotes articles by scholars who have a favorable view of the North or articles from North Korean news media. That obviously makes it mostly a document based on a North Korea-centered interpretation of modern history, one that the people of South Korea find unacceptable.
However, it would be futile to pull the booklet out of context and debate whether it is pro-North or not. The question of what its intended use was is an important one. It was not distributed to the general public or used in classes, nor in lectures for the general public. It was used only by members of the union who recently went to Pyongyang, and for study purposes only. Only approximately 20 teachers participated in the trip. You cannot blame teachers for having intellectual curiosity, because anyone who has been to North Korea wants to know how it got itself to where it is today.
What needs to be remembered here is that everyone who was part of the study seminars have the critical intellectual capacity to determine what is correct and incorrect. The seminars took place with everyone knowing the sources of the booklet’s contents, and there was active criticism of North Korea’s interpretation of modern Korean history at the seminars. It is nothing short of an insult to the country’s regular teachers - and dictatorial-era-style red-baiting - to try to make the public think the booklet was all about a one-sided teaching of official North Korean ideology, and that these teachers are going to return to their respective schools to convey pro-North thinking to young students. It would be hard to deny that our society still has some people who have the outdated desire to defend the North’s political system or its ruling elite, and hope to do so without the slightest bit of criticism. Evidence of that can be seen in the comments praising the North that have appeared on Jeon Gyo Jo’s web site from time to time. However, those are views that should be left to be weeded out in the natural course of the market of ideas, not cut away using the rusty knife known as the National Security Law. This is not something for the whole of Korean society to get excited about. For its part, the union needs to take a look at itself and see if it can be sure it has done nothing to make parents nervous.
What needs to be remembered here is that everyone who was part of the study seminars have the critical intellectual capacity to determine what is correct and incorrect. The seminars took place with everyone knowing the sources of the booklet’s contents, and there was active criticism of North Korea’s interpretation of modern Korean history at the seminars. It is nothing short of an insult to the country’s regular teachers - and dictatorial-era-style red-baiting - to try to make the public think the booklet was all about a one-sided teaching of official North Korean ideology, and that these teachers are going to return to their respective schools to convey pro-North thinking to young students. It would be hard to deny that our society still has some people who have the outdated desire to defend the North’s political system or its ruling elite, and hope to do so without the slightest bit of criticism. Evidence of that can be seen in the comments praising the North that have appeared on Jeon Gyo Jo’s web site from time to time. However, those are views that should be left to be weeded out in the natural course of the market of ideas, not cut away using the rusty knife known as the National Security Law. This is not something for the whole of Korean society to get excited about. For its part, the union needs to take a look at itself and see if it can be sure it has done nothing to make parents nervous.
