KTU Daegu and Gyeongbuk Branches Oppose TK Administrative Integration: "Integration Will Destroy Public Education"

by Gu Daeseon

Published 05 Feb.2026 11:20(KST)

The Daegu and Gyeongbuk branches of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) stated on February 5 that they oppose the administrative integration of the TK (Daegu-Gyeongbuk) region.

In a statement released that day, the KTU branches said, "Both the Democratic Party of Korea (with Assemblywoman Lim Mi-ae as the sponsoring lawmaker) and the People Power Party (with Assemblyman Koo Ja-geun as the sponsoring lawmaker) have introduced special bills on the Daegu-Gyeongbuk administrative integration. Even though the direction and pace of the integration are still unclear, the bills already contain provisions that will deepen inequality in the educational environment. The Daegu and Gyeongbuk branches of the KTU express serious concern about the provisions related to educational administration in the special bills on the Daegu-Gyeongbuk administrative integration proposed by the two parties, and demand that these bills be scrapped."

Gyeongbuk Gyoyuk Yeondae is holding a press conference on Daegu-Gyeongbuk administrative integration.

The KTU branches went on to say, "First of all, both parties have left the door open for the special mayor or the superintendent of the special city office of education to establish and operate special-purpose high schools, international high schools, and schools for the gifted. Is this proliferation of elite schools that strengthen competitive education what the educational community has long envisioned as educational autonomy? The 5 million residents of Daegu and Gyeongbuk have never agreed to an integration that expands elite schools and elite education," adding, "Furthermore, by granting both the special mayor and the superintendent of the special city office of education the authority to establish and operate elite schools, the resulting confusion is as plain as day. The core of these bills, as proposed, is to infringe on educational autonomy and to intensify inequality in the educational environment."

The Daegu and Gyeongbuk branches of the KTU also stated, "Allowing pre-emptive learning and permitting cross-level teaching between different school levels are serious problems. Regulations on pre-emptive learning are a safety device for public education that the education sector barely managed to establish after raising issues about it for a long time. Neutralizing these regulations is no different from seeking to expand competitive education once again. In addition, allowing cross-level teaching between elementary and secondary school teachers, under the banner of 'efficiency,' will ultimately make it harder for small schools to survive and could accelerate school closures and mergers," and asked, "What kind of public education in Daegu and Gyeongbuk does the political establishment, which is pushing for integration, actually want? Are they trying to dismantle the basic minimum standards of public education and create an educational environment in which competition and privilege run rampant?"

The KTU further stated, "If integration is truly a discussion about the future of the region, its starting point must be safeguarding the public nature of public education. While pushing ahead with a 'public education rollback policy set' that includes the establishment of elite schools, the expansion of internationally accredited curricula, the allowance of pre-emptive learning, and the permission of cross-level teaching between school levels, it is impossible to convince the educational community. If there is to be any discussion of integration, the law must first clearly establish mechanisms that guarantee the public nature of education."

After calling on the National Assembly, the Democratic Party of Korea, and the People Power Party to "abolish the provisions of the bills that reinforce inequality in the educational environment," the Daegu and Gyeongbuk branches of the KTU added, "We hope there will be no worst-case scenario in which the Daegu-Gyeongbuk integration bill, when it is tabled at the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee, is politically traded and passed without being fundamentally reconsidered from scratch to reflect the views of educational stakeholders and without sufficient deliberation, thereby destroying the Daegu-Gyeongbuk educational community. The Daegu and Gyeongbuk branches of the KTU will closely monitor the National Assembly and fight to the end to ensure that the public nature of public education does not collapse."