A Narrative Account of the Chunkyojo Movement in South Korea

In establishing the chronological development of the teachers’ union movement in South Korea, three phases or stages of movement history can be usefully identified:

• a pre-formation stage through most of the 1980s; • a period from formation of the union on May 28, 1989 until the re­

instatement of sacked teachers in January, 1994; • the move towards legitimacy from 1994 to February 1998, when the

government, under new President Kim Dae-Jung, agreed to legalise Chunkyojo, effective in July 1999.