"Appointment Letters Without Prior Consent?"... Texts Sent to Teachers, Jeon Gyojo Protests

Jeon Gyojo Demands an End to "Image-Making Exploitation"
Appointment Letters Confirmed Sent from People Power Party Campaign Headquarters Number

The Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (Jeon Gyojo) has strongly protested after it was confirmed that appointment letters were sent to some teachers under the name of the People Power Party's election campaign committee without their prior consent. Jeon Gyojo criticized the political sphere for using teachers as a means of image-making, especially when teachers' basic political rights are restricted.

Appointment letter sent to a certain teacher under the name of the People Power Party's campaign committee. Provided by Jeon Gyojo.

According to the Gwangju branch of Jeon Gyojo on May 21, there have been multiple reports recently from teachers who received appointment letters as "education advisors" affiliated with the People Power Party's campaign committee via text message. Upon checking the sender's number, it was confirmed that the messages were sent from the official representative number of the People Power Party headquarters.

A Jeon Gyojo official explained regarding the number of recipients, "The exact number has not been determined, but it is quite substantial." The official added, "There are some claims that a current National Assembly member with a background in a teachers' organization may be involved, but this has not yet been confirmed," and emphasized, "It is especially problematic that the messages were sent to teachers who are not members of the Korea Federation of Teachers' Associations (KFTA)."

Jeon Gyojo stated, "Sending appointment letters to teachers, whose political activities are legally restricted, without any consent constitutes a serious case of political exploitation," and stressed, "The act of using teachers, who lack basic rights, as tools for election promotion must be strongly condemned."

Jeon Gyojo is preparing a nationwide joint statement to call for clarification on how personal information was leaked and to use this incident as an opportunity to bring public attention to the need to guarantee teachers' basic political rights.