US State Department Criticizes South Korea for Limiting Political Activity of Teachers

The findings of bullying in the military is not surprising, but criticizing South Korea for limiting the political activity in the classrooms by their teachers?  Does the State Department believe that South Korean teachers should have the right to teach pro-North Korean and anti-US propaganda to their students?:

An annual human rights report released on June 25 by the US State Department cited violence in the military and restrictions on political involvement by government employees and teachers as problem areas for South Korea. The department’s Human Rights Report for South Korea rated it as a country that generally respects human rights, but included the two new areas in addition to previous concerns about the National Security Law. “The primary human rights problems reported were government interpretation of the National Security Law, libel laws, and other laws to limit freedom of speech and expression and restrict access to the internet; the continued jailing of conscientious objectors to military service; and bullying and hazing [of new recruits] in the military,” the executive summary read. The mention of bullying and hazing in the military appears to be a reference to incidences such as the death of a private first class surnamed Yun in Apr. 2014.

“During the first half of the year, the Ministry of National Defense reported 37 suicides among military personnel, generally attributed to bullying, hazing, or inability to adjust to military life,” the report said. In regard to punishment in libel cases, the report mentioned the indictment of former New Politics Alliance for Democracy floor leader Park Jie-won after allegations that President Park Geun-hye used a “non-official system” to choose appointees. In terms of press freedoms, the report mentions the indictment of the Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun’s Seoul bureau chief for defamation over allegations about President Park’s whereabouts during the Apr. 2014 Sewol ferry sinking. While the State Department’s 2013 report had only mentioned restrictions on labor rights and interference with striking rights as problem areas, the latest report notes that “[r]estrictions on workers’ rights, including freedom of association and assembly and limitations on political engagement of public servants and teachers, were also problematic.”  [Hankyoreh]

You can read the rest at the link.