By Kim Jae-won



The government stripped the nation's biggest teachers' union of its legal status Thursday for not abiding by an order to evict nine members who were fired by the previous government.



Employment and Labor Minister Phang Ha-nam said that the ministry notified the progressive Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) that the union was no longer a legal entity because it refused to change a clause in its charter that allows teachers who are fired to retain membership.



"We cannot grant legal status to an organization which does not follow the law," said Phang at a press briefing.



According to the Teachers' Union Law, a union cannot accept teachers who have been fired as members.



The KTU criticized the government for depriving it of its legal status and filed an injunction with a Seoul district court to appeal the decision and have it nullified. The union also said that it will continue to fight against the government to regain its legal status.



"We will continue our efforts to improving the country's education system regardless of whether we are a legitimate or outsider union," said Kim Jung-hoon, chairman of the KTU.



The decision came after the Wednesday deadline given to the union to revise the clause that recognizes membership of dismissed workers.



On Sept. 23, the ministry issued the KTU a one-month ultimatum to either expel dismissed educators from its membership, or lose official designation as a legal union. The KTU previously rejected the government's order to change the controversial clause in its charter, twice in 2010 and 2012.



With the decision, the KTU can no longer engage in legitimate negotiations with school authorities while union workers must return to their positions at schools. The government will also stop its financial support of the union which is estimated to amount to billions of won per year.



Founded in 1989, the teachers' union became a legitimate organization a decade later under the liberal Kim Dae-jung government and developed into the country's largest teachers' union with some 55,000 members.



