Gyeonggi Province superintendent-elect Ahn Min-seok said, "Among teachers with teaching credentials, there are more former special forces members than you might think. I think we could secure about 20 to 30 people who could play that role (the Ministry of Teachers' Rights Protection from the Netflix drama 'True Education')."

An Min-seok, Gyeonggi Province superintendent-elect, delivers remarks at the inauguration ceremony for the 6th-term Gyeonggi Province Office of Education Transition Committee at Gyeonggi Arts Center in Paldal-gu, Suwon, on the 15th. /Courtesy of News1

Ahn appeared on CBS Radio's Park Sung-tae's News Show on the 16th and stated accordingly that he has been receiving messages from individual teachers, including those with special forces backgrounds, saying that if a Ministry of Teachers' Rights Protection is created, they definitely want to serve there.

The drama True Education is a work that portrays the story of protagonist Na Hwa-jin, who, against the backdrop of a fictional government agency called the Ministry of Teachers' Rights Protection, guides students based on measures including corporal punishment and protects teachers' authority together with colleagues.

Ahn said, "What I have seen through True Education this time inspired me," adding, "I need to make a decision. I think the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education should take the lead." Ahn also said, "We cannot leave teachers in a situation where they fear students."

Earlier, through a post on Ahn's social media (SNS), Ahn said, "Researcher Lee Kyung-ah of the Democratic Research Institute proposed establishing a Ministry of Teachers' Rights Protection under the Ministry of Education, and I expect the ministry to make a decision," adding, "I also propose a public debate on whether to establish a Ministry of Teachers' Rights Protection within the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education."

Ahn, however, said, "Public discussion of a Ministry of Teachers' Rights Protection absolutely does not mean reviving corporal punishment," adding, "The intent is to prevent infringements on teachers' authority and other students' right to learn." Ahn said, "The characters within the Ministry of Teachers' Rights Protection resort to violence for retribution, so such figures would be hard to exist in reality."

Ahn said, "Problem students would feel intimidated by inspectors with that (special forces) background," adding, "It is necessary to dispatch such inspectors to schools with problems, schools with problem students, and cases where teachers cannot exercise control, to immediately change the atmosphere through guidance and admonition."

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