Listen - Generated by ElevenLabs
※ This article is based on the manuscript presented by the Korea Hamkke Union of Disabled Teachers at the "Disabled Led-Monitoring by persons with disabilities to monitor the Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD): Republic of Korea–New Zealand International Seminar" held on August 27, 2025.
The Founding and Growth of the Korea Hamkke Union of Disabled Teachers (JangGyoJo) – With a Focus on Article 27 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
(View Presentation Slides (HTML))
Introduction
Over the past two decades, policies concerning disabled teachers in the Republic of Korea have undergone significant change. Although the Employment Promotion, etc. of Persons with Disabilities Act was enacted in 1990—introducing a mandatory employment quota for persons with disabilities—teaching positions were initially excluded from the quota. A 2005 amendment removed this exemption, and beginning in 2007 a separate recruitment track for persons with disabilities was added to teacher appointment examinations. This effectively required that a set proportion of new teachers (approximately 5%) be hired from among persons with disabilities, and from that point disabled teachers began to increase in mainstream schools. These shifts were propelled by the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2006 and the enactment of Korea's Act on the Prohibition of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities and Remedy against Infringement of Their Rights in 2007.
As the number of disabled teachers grew, so did the movement to address, through institutional reform, the discrimination and barriers they faced at work. Informal networks—initially among blind/low-vision and deaf/hard-of-hearing teachers—became active in the late 2010s. Around 2018, disabled teachers began discussing the need to form a labor union as a formal vehicle to resolve issues experienced in their respective schools. The broader political climate was also becoming more favorable to organized labor with the launch of a new administration, and various teacher unions were being founded. Within this context, on July 6, 2019, Forty-five founding members established the Korea Hamkke Union of Disabled Teachers (abbrev. JangGyoJo). The union was notable globally as a labor union composed exclusively of disabled teachers. As of July 2024, 4,584 teachers—about 1.5% of all teachers in Korea—identify as persons with disabilities, and JangGyoJo's membership had steadily grown to 206 by August 2025.
This report examines the founding and principal activities of JangGyoJo and traces progress in Korean policy for disabled teachers from four angles: (1) the union's launch, growth, and the first collective agreement with the Ministry of Education, together with efforts to ensure organizational sustainability; (2) JangGyoJo's proactive engagement in, and contributions to, reform of recruitment and employment policy; (3) casework and redress activities under the Anti-Discrimination Act; and (4) an assessment of these efforts against four core principles derived from CRPD Article 27—namely, an inclusive labor market; reasonable accommodation; trade union rights; and measures to promote employment and shift public attitudes. Where helpful, we provide context for international readers.
Part I. Founding, Growth, the First Collective Agreement, and Organizational Sustainability
1) Launch of JangGyoJo
On July 6, 2019, JangGyoJo officially launched with 45 founding members, including blind/low-vision, deaf/hard-of-hearing, teachers with physical disabilities, and teachers with brain lesions—becoming the world's first labor union composed solely of disabled teachers. The union provided a formal channel for collective bargaining to address long-standing workplace issues. Teacher Lee Inho was elected as the first Chair. Since 2021, Hunyong Kim has served consecutive terms as Chair. Membership spans both special education and mainstream school teachers nationwide, and provincial branches were sequentially established—Jeonnam (2021), Seoul (2022), Daejeon (2024), Gyeonggi (2024), and Busan (2025)—to broaden the organizational base. As of 2024, about 4,584 disabled teachers (1.49% of all teachers) served under the 17 Metropolitan/Provincial Offices of Education. Membership reached 206 by August 2025, signaling steady, stable growth.
2) Collective Agreement with the Ministry of Education
From the outset, JangGyoJo prioritized collective bargaining with the Ministry of Education (MOE). After initiating principal talks in August 2020 and negotiating over three years, the parties concluded a historic first collective agreement on June 2, 2023. Spanning 49 articles and 62 clauses, the agreement was built on planks drafted directly by teachers across disability categories and refined through multiple rounds of negotiations. Hailed as unprecedented globally, the agreement set a new benchmark for both the MOE and the union.
Key provisions fall into five clusters:
- reforms to teacher training pipelines and appointment exams to strengthen the disability employment quota;
- improved personnel systems (transfer, reassignment, sick leave, and other HR policies);
- better working conditions (assignment of support personnel, provision of assistive technologies, barrier-free physical environments, web accessibility of administrative systems, accessibility of digital textbooks, and non-discrimination);
- expanded training opportunities and professional development; and
- stronger collaboration with related institutions.
This comprehensive, concrete agreement established an institutional foundation to safeguard the labor and educational rights of disabled teachers.
3) Building Organizational Sustainability
To convert initial momentum into a durable movement, JangGyoJo pursued multiple strategies. In 2023, it ran a fundraising campaign—"Give JangGyoJo Wings"—to secure its first dedicated office, meeting the goal and establishing a permanent workspace (but the operation of the office could not be sustained from 2024 onward due to the Ministry of Education's complete cut of subsidy funding at the end of 2023). The union also expanded recruitment through outreach to new teachers, hosted training programs, and introduced a "supporting member" option for non-members committed to disability-inclusive education.
Institutional supports for union activity were another focus. Following a 2024 end-year Ministry of Employment and Labor notice implementing a time-off scheme for teachers' unions, JangGyoJo negotiated official union activity hours with several education offices. In early 2025, the Jeonnam, Seoul, and Daejeon offices respectively granted 200 hours, 200 hours, and 320 hours annually to JangGyoJo officers. In Gyeonggi, 11 teachers' unions, including JangGyoJo's Gyeonggi Provincial Branch—a minority union of disabled teachers—signed an inter-union agreement on time-off allocations. Collectively, these steps laid the groundwork for JangGyoJo's continued development as a sustainable organization. Looking ahead, the union will focus on membership growth, financial stability, and internal inclusivity.
Part II. Proactive Policy Engagement and Institutional Reforms
1) Recruitment and HR System Reforms
Since its founding, JangGyoJo has actively intervened to improve policy on the employment and working conditions of disabled teachers. In recruitment and HR, it has consistently proposed measures to ensure fairness at the entry stage and eliminate discrimination in subsequent personnel management. In 2021, through a National Assembly forum and public statements, the union called for a statutory duty to provide reasonable accommodation to disabled teachers. As a result, a 2021 amendment to the Educational Officials Act (Education Officials) explicitly obligated the state and education authorities to provide necessary accommodations for training participation. The collective agreement also incorporated safeguards to prevent disability-based disadvantages in transfers and promotions, and encouraged broader access for disabled teachers to education administration posts (e.g., supervisory roles). These reforms help ensure equal career development after hiring.
2) Strengthening Support Systems (including Personal Assistants at Work)
Korea's Personal Assistance at Work system provides on-the-job support personnel for workers with disabilities and is essential for many teachers with high support needs. Yet the education context had long been overlooked, leading to assignment delays, gaps during mandated breaks, and prohibitions on remote support. To address these issues, JangGyoJo entered tripartite consultations in 2021 with the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Korea Employment Agency for Persons with Disabilities (KEAD) to convey field challenges and explore solutions. In August 2025, JangGyoJo met directly with KEAD's president to formally demand an overhaul of the system, highlighting seven priority reforms—including coverage during assistants' breaks, recruitment of qualified personnel, and permission for remote support. KEAD committed to actively review improvements.
Separately from KEAD's program, JangGyoJo worked with the MOE to expand teacher-specific support personnel in schools. Some education offices began allocating budgets for assistants to disabled teachers and subsidizing co-pays for the KEAD program. For example, starting in 2022, the Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education funded real-time speech-to-text services for deaf teachers (initially 50 hours per person per year), later expanding in 2023 to up to KRW 5 million per person. This change followed a collective complaint filed in early 2023 concerning failures to provide communication accommodations. Collectively, these advances have widened practical support systems enabling disabled teachers to focus on teaching.
3) Legislative and Policy Proposals
JangGyoJo has also submitted proposals to the National Assembly and the executive branch. In September 2022, together with an Assembly member's office, it hosted a forum on improving the working environment and rights of disabled teachers, discussing the "Top Ten" workplace challenges, communication support for deaf teachers, and the need for a dedicated support unit. As a follow-up, in February 2023 a bill to amend the Act on the Employment Promotion and Vocational Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities was introduced to mandate the placement of coordinators for disabled public officials in state agencies and require annual implementation plans.
In June 2023, at a forum on expanding disabled teacher employment, JangGyoJo's Policy Director recommended reforms to the disability recruitment track in teacher exams, increased admission of disabled students to teacher-training institutions, and mainstreaming professional development opportunities for disabled in-service teachers—recommendations that gained broad support. In November 2024, working with another Assembly member, the union supported a bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to mandate the production and distribution of accessible alternative formats for textbooks, advancing learning rights for disabled students and teachers.
At the local level, several education offices adopted ordinances to support disabled teachers. In Jeollanam-do, a 2023 ordinance on convenience supports for disabled teachers created a legal basis for assistance. In 2025, the Daejeon Metropolitan Council convened a forum—spurred by JangGyoJo's sustained advocacy—to revitalize a dormant support ordinance. Meanwhile, the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education, in consultation with JangGyoJo's Gyeonggi Provincial Branch, secured a dedicated budget for convenience supports (up to KRW 5 million per person annually) and committed to implement a long-pending procedure for ad-hoc transfers of teachers with severe disabilities. Reflecting these developments, the MOE published the Guidelines on Personnel Management for Disabled Teachers in late 2023, standardizing appointment, placement, working supports, and promotion—incorporating many of JangGyoJo's longstanding demands.
Part III. Remedies and Anti-Discrimination Actions under the Anti-Discrimination Act
Redressing discrimination and vindicating rights constitute a central pillar of JangGyoJo's work. Korea's Act on the Prohibition of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities and Remedy against Infringement of Their Rights (in force since 2008) prohibits disability-based discrimination in employment and guarantees remedies through the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) when reasonable accommodation is denied.
1) Communication Support for Deaf Teachers
In February 2024, the NHRCK recommended corrective measures to 14 education offices for failing to provide sign language interpretation or real-time captioning (speech-to-text) for deaf teachers—finding that such failure constituted a denial of reasonable accommodation under the Act. The case began with an individual complaint filed in late 2022 by a deaf teacher who was denied communication support in meetings and trainings; with JangGyoJo's coordination, it expanded into a collective complaint in early 2023 and then into an ex officio investigation and recommendation by the NHRCK in April 2023. JangGyoJo assisted with counseling and documentation throughout. The NHRCK urged education authorities to remedy the practice and establish communication support measures. The decision is a landmark official recognition that the absence of reasonable accommodation in disabled teachers' workplaces amounts to discrimination. JangGyoJo is monitoring compliance and budget allocations by education offices.
2) The K University of Art & Design
In 2023, the NHRCK found that K University of Art & Design discriminated against a professor with an upper-limb disability (a JangGyoJo member). Despite the professor's difficulty with fine mouse control, the university attempted to assign incompatible coursework and tolerated derogatory remarks (e.g., questioning the professor's fitness for student counseling). Supported by JangGyoJo since 2021, the complaint resulted in an NHRCK recommendation in February 2023 for special human rights education and recurrence-prevention measures. When the university failed to comply and the Ministry of Justice delayed issuing a corrective order, JangGyoJo brought public attention to the case, sought meetings with the Ministry, and worked with lawmakers to press for enforcement—underscoring the need for follow-through after NHRCK decisions. Drawing lessons from this case, the union now pursues a multi-track strategy—NHRCK complaints, administrative orders, and civil litigation—where appropriate.
3) Tackling Microaggressions and Changing Everyday Culture
Beyond formal legal action, JangGyoJo challenges structural bias and everyday exclusion—often manifesting as microaggressions—that undermine disabled teachers' professionalism and collegial standing.
To prevent discrimination at the entry stage, the union issued multiple statements in 2021 on the admissions-score manipulation scandal at Jinju National University of Education, characterizing it as an "organized crime," demanding a full fact-finding investigation, accountability, and a comprehensive audit across all teacher-training institutions—thereby framing discrimination against prospective disabled teachers as structural rather than exceptional. When the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education proposed a "Committee for Teachers with Illnesses" regulation in 2021, JangGyoJo immediately opposed it as discriminatory—contesting the presumption that teachers with illnesses or disabilities are inherently problematic.
The union also intervened in individual cases. In 2022 in Gangwon Province, when students undermined the professional authority of a deaf teacher, JangGyoJo reframed the incident not merely as a classroom-management issue but as a discrimination case, demanding reconsideration and a comprehensive review by the education office. Conversely, the union amplifies positive examples: it has issued welcome statements when a blind teacher was appointed vice-principal at a public school and when another blind teacher became a special school principal—showcasing that disabled teachers can be outstanding school leaders. Through these efforts—spanning entry, tenure, and promotion—JangGyoJo confronts both systemic and individual discrimination, while identifying and celebrating role models to help shift norms toward inclusive school cultures.
Part IV. Interpreting JangGyoJo's Practice through CRPD Article 27
CRPD Article 27 recognizes the right of persons with disabilities to work "on an equal basis with others," and obligates States Parties to ensure access to an open, inclusive, and accessible labor market and work environment. Article 27(1)(a) prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in all forms of employment; Article 27(1)(i) requires reasonable accommodation; Article 27(1)(c) guarantees the right to form and join trade unions; and Article 27(1)(g)-(h) call for proactive measures to promote employment in public and private sectors. JangGyoJo's activities constitute a concrete domestic instantiation of these obligations.
1) Advancing an Inclusive Labor Market
In education, an inclusive labor market means disabled teachers are routinely recruited, placed, and supported in mainstream schools. JangGyoJo's advocacy—from reforming disability recruitment tracks in teacher exams to expanding special admissions at teacher-training institutions—has lowered entry barriers. Since 2007, the number of disabled teachers has steadily risen, reaching 4,584 in 2024. Although still under 1.5% of all teachers, this trajectory indicates progress while underscoring the need for stronger measures (e.g., reinforced target-setting and hiring goals), aligning with Article 27(1)(e) on career advancement and Article 27(1)(g) on the public sector's exemplary role. The presence of disabled teachers also yields a secondary benefit: providing role models for disabled students.
2) Reasonable Accommodation and Safer, Accessible Work Environments
Article 27(1)(b) emphasizes safe and healthy working conditions; Article 27(1)(i) places responsibility on States and employers to provide reasonable accommodation. Korea's 2021 statutory amendment mandating accommodations for disabled teachers during training codified this duty. The collective agreement's provisions—assignment of support personnel, assistive technologies, barrier-free facilities, and web accessibility of systems and digital textbooks—translate the international standard into everyday practice. Parallel efforts, such as reforming the Personal Assistance at Work system and enacting local ordinances with dedicated budgets, reflect a Korean pathway that blends universal accessibility with individualized supports. Ongoing monitoring and public advocacy have also prompted schools to add ramps, tactile/Braille signage in elevators, and visual alerts on emergency bells—incremental changes that benefit everyone.
3) Guaranteeing Trade Union Rights
Article 27(1)(c) explicitly protects the right of persons with disabilities to form and join trade unions. JangGyoJo's very existence exemplifies this right in action. Legislative reforms from 2020 and the 2024 time-off system have provided an enabling framework, while JangGyoJo leveraged this legal framework to expand its union base and secure time-off personnel. The union's collective agreement with the MOE stands as a pioneering global example of realizing the trade union rights of disabled teachers.
4) Promoting Employment and Transforming Public Attitudes
Article 27 encompasses not only job placement and retention supports but also broader cultural change. JangGyoJo has advocated for a dedicated MOE unit and national support centers for disabled teachers—consistent with Articles 27(1)(e) and (k) on retention and return-to-work measures. Through media work, op-eds, and press conferences, the union campaigns to shift perceptions of disabled teachers among colleagues, parents, and students—exposing discriminatory language and amplifying success stories—echoing recommendations of the CRPD Committee regarding the centrality of attitudinal change. JangGyoJo has declared: "We aim to expose and change the microaggressions that arise in relationships between teachers and students and between teachers and parents, and to spread a culture of diversity and inclusion across schools." True to this declaration, its activities go beyond improving individual working conditions to building an inclusive educational environment that gives practical effect to the ideals of the CRPD.
Conclusion
The formation and activities of the Korea Hamkke Union of Disabled Teachers (JangGyoJo) mark a turning point in policy for disabled teachers in Korea. As a labor union organized by disabled teachers themselves, JangGyoJo's very launch symbolizes a strong commitment to rights advocacy by persons with disabilities. Over the past several years, the union has concluded the world's first collective agreement with a ministry of education, comprehensively institutionalizing the rights of disabled teachers; it has driven legal and policy reforms and expanded on‑the‑ground supports, substantially improving the conditions for disabled teachers to work without discrimination. Through remedies work in discrimination cases, it has enhanced the effectiveness of the Anti‑Discrimination Act, while helping to spread a culture of inclusion and equality across the education sector. These efforts offer lessons for the international community as a concrete realization, in Korean schools, of the spirit of CRPD Article 27. An international scholarly study published in 2025 likewise highly evaluated JangGyoJo's contribution to disability rights and social justice in Korea's education sector, and emphasized the need for sustained support and collaboration to ensure the union's continued development.
That said, challenges remain. The number of disabled teachers is still very small relative to the overall teaching force, and attitudinal barriers persist before full equality is realized in schools. Looking ahead, JangGyoJo identifies the following priorities: nationwide implementation of the collective agreement; establishment of a robust grievance‑handling system for disabled teachers; building networks among isolated disabled teachers; expanding membership and the base of supporting members; and deepening inclusiveness across different disability communities within the union. Each of these is essential to secure stable employment and advance the rights of disabled teachers. By working in partnership with the Korean government, the education community, and civil society, these tasks can be achieved—helping to further entrench the inclusive and fair labor environment envisioned by the CRPD. Policy attention and support for disabled teachers ultimately lay the foundation for a society in which everyone can teach and learn without discrimination, aligning with global human rights commitments and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We hope JangGyoJo's experience and achievements will continue to be shared domestically and internationally, strengthening global solidarity for the right to work of persons with disabilities.
References
- Ministry of Education; Korea Hamkke Union of Disabled Teachers. (2023). "2020 Collective Agreement between the Ministry of Education and the Korea Hamkke Union of Disabled Teachers." Concluded June 2, 2023.
- Ministry of Education. (2023). Guidelines on Personnel Management for Disabled Teachers.
- National Human Rights Commission of Korea. (2024). Recommendation to remedy discriminatory acts including the failure to provide communication accommodations to deaf teachers. Decision date: February 23, 2024.
- National Human Rights Commission of Korea. (2023). Recommendation to remedy discriminatory acts against a disabled faculty member at K University of Art & Design. Decision date: February 2023.
- Hwang, S., & Kim, H. (2025). We were hired but not employed: the formation and challenges of the Korea Hamkke Labour Union of Disabled Teachers. Disability & Society.