A ruling by South Korea’s Supreme Court in early September upheld a suspended sentence against Cho Hee-yeon, the popular superintendent of Seoul’s Metropolitan Office of Education and a progressive sociologist and civil society leader.
Cho is known for his efforts to expand free school meals, protect student rights, and limit private high schools. The ruling forced him to resign from his position, one akin to education minister for a city of nearly ten million people.
The removal of Cho is an injustice that speaks volumes about the present-day Korean power structure. Decades after the formal end of military rule, Korean workers still face stifling legal constraints on their freedom to engage in political activity. This is one of many obstacles facing the Korean left as it struggles to maintain a presence in national politics.
What was the nature of Cho’s crime? He was charged under the Public Official Election Act in 2021 with abusing his power by helping to rehire five teachers from the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) who had previously faced charges under the same act. One was accused of posting defamatory messages on online message boards during the 2002 presidential elections (and subsequently pardoned), while the remaining four were sanctioned for collecting donations to support a candidate in the 2008 superintendent elections.
Decades after the formal end of military rule, Korean workers still face stifling legal constraints on their freedom to engage in political activity.
The original cases highlighted the limits on…
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Auteur: Jamie Doucette
