President Yoon Suk Yeol instructed his aides Monday to “deeply bear in mind” the protests of school teachers demanding better rights and to do their utmost to guarantee their rights, his office said.

Yoon gave the instruction during a weekly meeting with his senior secretaries, two days after some 200,000 teachers held a rally in Seoul to mourn the recent suicide deaths of teachers who struggled to deal with students and parents, and to demand better protection of their rights.

“Deeply bear in mind the shouts of the teachers last weekend, and do your utmost to establish teachers’ rights and normalize the education field,” Yoon said, according to his spokesperson Lee Do-woon.

Another mass teachers’ rally has been scheduled for later Monday, with many teachers taking a one-day leave of absence to attend, and some 30 elementary schools across the nation designating the day a temporary holiday due to a shortage of staff.

Yoon also reiterated his call to fight against actions he sees as a threat to liberal democracy.

“We must firmly respond to anti-state actions that seek to shake and destroy the liberal democratic political system, together with all the people, regardless of political camp,” he said.

Source: Yonhap News Agency