Seoul Education Office Loses Four Jasago Lawsuits... "Will Appeal and Request Case Consolidation"

Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education to Appeal Court Ruling on Jasago Status
Maintains Stance Despite Calls to Withdraw Appeal

Jo Hee-yeon, Superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, is arriving at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 11th. Superintendent Jo became the first investigation target of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) after an audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection revealed that he had unfairly given special employment to dismissed teachers affiliated with the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU). Photo by Kim Hyunmin kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy, reporter Han Jinju] The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced that it would immediately appeal the court's decision to accept the requests from Kyunghee High School and Handaebugo High School to revoke the cancellation of their autonomous private high school (Jasago) status.

On May 28, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education stated, "We will thoroughly analyze the reasoning behind the verdict as soon as the written judgment is delivered, and then file an appeal," adding, "Taking into account the burden on the schools and the efficiency of the litigation process, we plan to request the court to merge the cases."

Cho Heeyeon, Superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, said, "Regardless of the ongoing Jasago lawsuits, we will do our utmost to normalize high school education by shifting our policy focus from 'diversification of school types' to 'diversification of curricula within schools.'"

With victories for these two autonomous private high schools, all lawsuits filed by the eight schools have now resulted in rulings in favor of the Jasago schools. In July 2019, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education decided to revoke the Jasago designation of eight schools: Paichai High School, Sehwa High School, Kyunghee High School, Soongmoon High School, Shinil High School, Ewha Womans University High School, Joongang High School, and Handaebugo High School. On this day, the principals of the eight Jasago schools held a press conference at the Seoul Administrative Court, demanding that Superintendent Cho withdraw the appeal.