The new president-elect of the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Associations, one of two major teachers’ unions, offered to step down Thursday over revelations he had received disciplinary measures for sending an inappropriate letter to his student.
Park Jung-hyun, 44, who was newly appointed as the youngest president last week, was found to have been reprimanded while he served as a high school homeroom teacher in 2013, and was transferred to a nearby middle school.
Park claimed that he received disciplinary action due to his favoritism of a particular student, but students who attended the high school at the time countered that Park’s actions were hard to deem as pure favoritism.
It was later found that Park referred to a particular student as “darling” in the letter and included phrases like “I love you more today than yesterday,” or “I want to hug you now.”
Calls have since grown for his resignation.
In a statement he published through the union on Thursday, Park offered to step down, saying he “deeply
apologizes to all teachers of the association and takes all responsibility.”
“I am deeply sorry for concerning the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Associations, its members, and all of the nation’s teachers through my past errors and mistakes, and for the disgrace I caused,” he added.
The teachers’ union said the acting vice president will take over the position until a new president is elected.
It also apologized for failing to meet the “responsibility and anticipation” as the largest teachers’ association in the country and vowed to reform its candidate evaluation system.
Source: Yonhap News Agency