24page

Sex offenderS barr ed from teaching jobS The government has announced a plan to ban schoolteachers and university pro- fessors convicted of sex crimes from ever teaching again. The Ministry of Education said it has prepared a plan to strengthen disciplinary measures against teachers, which would bar anyone convicted of a sex crime from working at any institution, public or pri- vate. The plan will require revisions to cur- rent laws governing education civil serv- ants, kindergartens and schools, and the ministry said it would push forward with those changes. According to the ministry, sex offenders with teaching certificates will be prohibit- ed from obtaining positions at kindergar- tens, elementary, middle and high schools and universities. Those currently working will be fired. Teaching certificates will also be revoked if a person is convicted of a sex crime against a minor. The min- istry also said teachers will be subject to stronger disciplinary action even before a conviction is confirmed by the highest court. Those accused of committing a sex crime against a minor or a disabled per - son, or those involved in any type of sex trafficking case — including the traffick - ing of adults — may be fired, even if their convictions are not finalized. Under the current law governing educa- tional civil servants, only those who are actually convicted of a sex crime against minors and then fired or those who are ordered to pay a criminal fine of 1 million won or more for the crimes can have their teaching certificates revoked. Under the government’s new plan, teachers or professors will also be re - lieved of their teaching positions during investigations in order to separate them from students. Sex crime prevention edu - cation will also become a mandatory part of faculty trainin g. The ministry also said it is reviewing a plan to make information about teachers who are convicted sex offenders public even before relevant laws are amended. Over the past five years, 240 elementa - ry, middle and high school teachers were punished for sex crimes against chil- dren or adults, government statics show. Among them, 115 are still teaching, Sae- nuri Party Rep. Min Hyun-joo said, citing data provided by the ministry. According to the figures, 108 teachers committed sex crimes against minors, and 33 are still teaching. Of the 132 teachers whose victims were adults, 82 are still teaching. The statistics also showed that sex crimes against minors by teachers were increasing annually. In 2009, nine teach - ers were convicted of sex crimes against minors. That number grew to 20 in 2010, and up to 29 in 2013. all stories are culled with consent from Korea joongang daily’s website and edited by groove Korea for length and clarity. the opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of groove Korea. — ed. n a t i o n a l n e w Swith October 2014 / www.koreajoongangdaily.com For the past few months, fisherman Choi Chul-nam, who works on Daecheong Is- land, in Ongjin County, Incheon, has had no choice but to sell half his haul of crabs and fish at giveaway prices to visitors to the port. “I’ll sell a 3-kilogram mackerel, a rock fish and a couple of crabs for just 10,000 won,” Choi said. “It’s dirt cheap.” Since the Sewol ferry disaster on April 16, a tragedy that killed more than 300 passengers, a strict freight regulation that limits space on such ships has forced more fishermen to sell their products at lower prices. Before the tragedy, Choi and the other fishermen on the five West Sea islands, which include Daecheong, Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong islands, used to box their products in Styrofoam or plastic contain- ers, then pile them in the spaces on ferries designated for cars — as much as they caught. But once the new regulation took effect following the accident, it became virtu- ally impossible for them to load their en- tire catch. Now, fishermen must load their cargo into cars, then affix those vehicles to the ship to move them. To comply with the new rule, the men for a time used their colleagues’ personal cars, though it still proved inefficient. In an attempt to help, Ongjin County even rented a one-ton truck and five-ton truck to ease the difficulty, but they still didn’t provide enough space, and the county eventually ran out of funds in August to continu e leasing the vehicles. “I don’t have enough space in my cold stor - age unit to keep everything I catch,” Choi said. “I can’t help but sell all my products cheap or give away the leftovers to my neighbors.” Since the water temperature has gone up, so too have fishermen’s hauls of mackerel, rockfish and spotty belly greenling around the five West Sea islands. “We are trying to transform space for cars into cargo compartments so that more fishery products can be transported on - board,” said Tak Dong-sik, the head of Ogn- jin County’s traffic administration. “As long as there are no safety hazards, I hope the Korean Register of Shipping will approve the change as soon as possible.” ferry regulation limitS profitS for fiShermen