[EDITORIALS]Whose civil service is it?

It appears that the Korean Government Employees Union used material whose content resembles that of the North Korean juche ideology to educate its members in September.
The material is very similar, in terms of logical development, concept and terminology, to the book “On Juche Ideology,” written by the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 1982. Such sentences as “Class-consciousness is the basis of independent ideologies,” are almost the same as the sentences found in Mr. Kim’s book.
The union did not explain why it conducted education based on this material, and so now it appears South Korea has become a country where civil servants receive education in North Korean ideology.
What is juche ideology? It argues for the communization of the Korean Peninsula. The ultimate aim of the North Korean Workers’ Party, according to its charter, is “to make the whole society follow juche ideology and construct a communist society.” We are dumfounded at the reality where civil servants, not leftist student activists, receive such an education.
The union says, “We did not know what juche ideology was, and that’s why we did not realize it was included in the material.” But that is not persuasive. As the material contains so many strange passages, it seems incredible that people who could pass a civil service examination would not notice it.
When we criticize the union, it counters with “You are launching an unfair ideological attack.” But we believe this is not the case; it is an expression of concern for the country.
Civil servants are the basis of the nation. Had the union not known what juche ideology was, as it argued, then it would be an even more serious situation. It means that they are permeated by the juche ideology while they are unaware of it.
Pyeongyang is attempting to spread juche ideology through the Internet, and civil servants in Korea publicly receive juche ideology education. Now the people’s fear that “This country is becoming a very dangerous place” is growing.
In such a situation, the administration and the governing party only stick to their position that the anti-communist National Security Law should be abolished.
We do not understand why the public security authorities have done nothing so far. They should investigate this case ― right now.