Summons of More Than Ten Principals Created a Stir

A stir has been created as the police inquired of school principals about the mass `leave of absence strike` carried out by the teachers belonging to the Korean Teachers and Educational Workers` Union (KTU).

The KTU Jeonbuk District Chapter disclosed on Nov. 5 that the police of Jeongeup and Kochang, Jeonbuk Province summoned arbitrarily and inquired of more than 10 principals in Jeongeup and Kochang regions, including Principal Lee of Jeongeup Wangshin Girl`s High School, from Nov. 2 thru Nov. 5.

It was disclosed that the police had inquired of those principals about the personal information on the teachers attending the KTU rally held in Seoul on Oct. 27, the state of class conducting of the school, the performance records of the teachers who took a leave of absence and asked them to make a written statement.

In other regions, including Kochang, the police visited the school and requested the same from the principals.

With regard to this, the KTU Jeonbuk District Chapter said, ``It is an obvious violation of teaching authority that the police arbitrarily summoned the principals and inquired of them, which did not happen even in the 1980.`` and insisted, ``Those in the prosecution and the police who are concerned with this incident be censured.``

An official at Chunbuk District Police Agency said, ``The inquiring was conducted to grasp the situation of that time according to the prosecution`s direction.``

kokim@donga.com