The Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) is pursuing a name change for the first time since its founding 37 years ago, while also pushing for legislative reforms to limit teachers' duties to classroom instruction and student guidance, reducing their administrative burden.
The KTU announced these plans as part of its annual business agenda at a New Year press conference held at the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions education center in Seoul on Friday.
The union will first pursue changing its name, which has been in use since its establishment in 1989. Discussion sessions will be held at local branches and chapters nationwide around June to gather opinions for and against the change, along with reform proposals. Following a provisional delegates' meeting in August, a final decision on the new name will be made through an online vote of all union members in September.
While KTU membership is restricted to "teachers," the current Korean name includes the term "education workers," which has consistently drawn criticism for causing confusion. In a member survey last year, 51.8% of respondents supported changing the organization's name.
The KTU will also launch a legislative campaign to completely separate administrative tasks such as hiring, facilities management, and accounting from teachers' duties. The union plans to amend the Early Childhood Education Act and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to explicitly exclude administrative work from teachers' job descriptions.
Additionally, the KTU will push for revisions to the Child Welfare Act and the Child Abuse Punishment Act to protect teachers' educational rights from indiscriminate child abuse reports.
The union will also demand that the government and National Assembly require police to substantively reflect superintendents' opinions when investigating teachers' educational activities, and grant authority to close cases without referral to prosecutors when no charges are warranted.
The KTU will continue its longstanding campaign to guarantee teachers' basic political rights, including freedom of expression, permission to join and support political parties, and the right to run for public office after taking leave. The union plans to secure consent from 42 National Assembly members and utilize a legislative task force within the Democratic Party to establish a concrete path to legislation.
"In 2026, we will focus on creating conditions that make education possible, starting with building an environment where teachers can teach," said KTU Chairman Park Young-hwan. "We will create schools where teachers, students, and parents can breathe together, and rebuild a healthy public education ecosystem."