Gyeonggi Teachers' Union: "Minister of Education Should Resign Voluntarily Over Drunk Driving, Plagiarism, and Power Abuse Controversies"

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] The Gyeonggi Teachers' Union expressed deep regret over the forced appointment of Park Soon-ae as Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education and urged Minister Park to resign voluntarily.

On the 5th, the Gyeonggi Teachers' Union stated in a press release, "Yesterday (the 4th), the Yoon Seok-yeol administration forcibly appointed Park Soon-ae as Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education without a confirmation hearing," and added, "The Gyeonggi Teachers' Union expresses deep regret over appointing a person who has been involved in controversies such as drunk driving, duplicate thesis issues, and abuse of power as Minister of Education without any confirmation hearing."

They continued, "In our society, the education sector demands higher morality than any other field. Starting this year, those who have been disciplined for drunk driving are permanently excluded from principal appointments, and teachers with a history of drunk driving are not eligible for awards regardless of the period," and criticized, "Even if the 'drunk driving' incident occurred over 20 years ago, appointing someone with a history of drunk driving as Minister of Education not only violates fairness but also instantly undermines the morality that our education sector has upheld."

They also pointed out, "The more urgent the reform of the Ministry of Education is, the more the head of the Ministry, representing 500,000 elementary, middle, and high school teachers who are education experts, must have strong leadership," and questioned, "However, having lost the morality that is naturally required of the head of the education sector and being a non-education expert with only administrative experience, it is doubtful what power such a person has to reorganize the Ministry of Education, which faces numerous challenges, and to push forward reforms for the future."

Therefore, the Gyeonggi Teachers' Union stated, "We hoped that a Minister of Education who could tackle urgent educational issues together with education stakeholders would be appointed, but we cannot help feeling devastated by this incident that completely shattered that hope," and asserted, "If Minister Park Soon-ae truly cares about the education sector, there is no option but to resign voluntarily even now."