South Korean Teachers’ Union Visits North Korea

People’s Korea, 16 August 2003

A group of the 120 members of South Korean Teachers and Educational Workers’ Union or Jongyojo visited North Korea from July 29 to August 2 to build ties with teachers, educational workers and officials of North Korea.

The delegation’s five-day visit was made at the invitation of the North Korean Educational and Cultural Workers’ Union. The delegation was led by Vice Chairman Jo Hui Ju of the union.

Members held discussions with North Korean teachers on ways of promoting educational exchanges and cooperation, and visited various educational facilities.

This is the first time that South Korean teachers officially visited North Korea with the approval of the Seoul government.

North and South Korean teachers met with each other at the Mangyongdae Schoolchildren’s Palace on August 1 to hold the first inter-Korean teachers’ meeting. Both sides determined that teachers in the North and the South should take practical steps to achieve an independent and peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula. They also discussed mutual visits by North and South Korean teachers’ organizations and holding a panel discussion of North and South Korean teachers.

Kim Yong Do, vice-chairman of the central committee of the Korean Educational and Cultural Workers’ Union and Jo Hui Ju, vice-chairman of the Teachers Union of South Korea, made addresses in the meeting.

The new generations should devote themselves to the independence, peace and reunification of the country, they said underlining the need to pool teachers’ warm love for posterity and make a tangible contribution to national solidarity and cooperation.

Participating in the joint meeting, I realized what the reunification is. I think that teachers in the North and the South should play an important role in achieving national reunification, under the banner of the June 15 North-South Joint Declaration, said Ri Byong Gol, 58, teacher at the Kim Il Sung University.

Following the meeting, North and South Korean teachers and educational workers enjoyed an art performance and amusement games.

Meanwhile, the South Koreans toured various places of Pyongyang and local areas. They visited Mangyongdae, the birthplace of the late President Kim Il Sung, and the Mt. Paekdu and Mt. Myohyang areas while looking around scenic spots in Pyongyang. They also visited schools and educational institutions in Pyongyang.