Busan Bukbu Office of Education’s response lacks clarity and transparency

posted by KoreanDogs.org team on May 4,2018 in Action Alert, Busan, Busan KAPCA, Gupo Market

Superintendent Daesong Kim, Busan Bukbu Office of Education

We have received a written response from the Student Health Support Division of the Busan Bukbu Office of Education regarding our petition, “Busan Buk-gu District – Shut down the Gupo Dog Meat Market in the “School Cleanup Zone”!” This campaign was originally launched in 2014 and was re-launched on March 6, 2018. Click HERE for our campaign page.
Return address stated:
Student Health Support Division
Busan Bukbu Office of Education
44 Baegyang-daero 1016 beonda-gil
Buk-gu, Busan 46637
Republic of Korea

The letter is in the Korean language with no English translation, despite the fact that our protest letter was in both English and Korean, and the majority of our supporters who had written are not Koreans. The letter does not include the name of the sender at the Busan Bukbu Office of Education nor the contact info for further inquiries.

Below is the translation:

Hello, We would like to thank you for your interest in the advancement of education in Busan. Your letter to the Ministry of Education regarding the Gupo Dog Meat Market (civil complaint ID number: 1BA-1804-026144) was assigned to the Busan Bukbu Office of Education for a response.

Points of your civil complaint seems to be as below:
1. It was the opinion of the Busan Buk-gu District Office that Article 6, Paragraph 1, Subparagraphs 1, 5, 7, 8 and 11 of the School Health Act do not apply to the Gupo Dog Meat Market and that the Gupo Dog Meat Market is not subject to administrative action or removal. This opinion was issued by the Busan Buk-gu District Office without comment as to why the above provisions of the School Health Act are not applicable.

2. The Gupo Dog Meat Market is within the boundary of the “School Environment, Hygiene, Cleanup Zone” specified in the School Health Act as evidenced by this Busan News article.
3. Unsanitary conditions at the Gupo Dog Meat Market.
4. Busan Buk-gu District put the interest of dog butchers and shops before the education of their young children.

Below is the response to your points #1 and #2.
For the Busan Bukbu Office of Education to take administrative action to ban Gupo Dog Meat Market from operating within the School Environment, Hygiene, Cleanup Zone, they must violate the list of prohibited acts stipulated in Article 9 of the “ “Educational Environment Protection Act”” (enacted February 3, 2016, enforcement on February 4, 2017). However, this provision does not apply to Gupo Dog Meat Market and therefore, even if they are within the boundary of Deokchun Elementary School’s School Environment, Hygiene, Cleanup Zone, the Busan Bukbu Office of Education cannot take any legal actions.

Below is the response to your points #3 and #4.
Regarding the Gupo Dog Meat Market’s negative effect on the mental health of children, Busan Bukbu Office of Education has asked Busan Buk-gu District office to take actions such as urging voluntary removal of “Livestock General Market” signage located at the entrance of the Gupo Dog Meat Market, as well as continuous inspection and guidance regarding the illegal slaughter and unsanitary environment. There are currently no children from the Deokcheon Elementary School who walk through the Gupo Dog Meat Market on their way to and from school. However, we have asked the school to provide guidance to children to never to go near the Dog Meat Market while participating in the extra educational activities, or after school hours.

We, Busan Bukbu Office of Education, fully understand your concern regarding the effect the Gupo Dog Meat Market can have on the children’s emotional health and character. However, administrative action must only be taken within the boundaries of the laws. Therefore, we ask for your understanding that Busan Bukbu Office of Education cannot take administrative actions or involuntarily demolish Gupo Dog Meat Market even though it is within the School Environment, Hygiene, Cleanup Zone because “Prohibited Acts, etc. in Educational Environment Protection Zones” does not apply.

For your information, it is our understanding that the Busan Buk-gu District Office formed a task force to address Gupo Dog Meat Market issues and they are working towards closing down the dog meat market. Therefore, in the future, please forward your questions and concerns regarding the Gupo Dog Meat Market to the Busan Buk-gu District Office.

Photo: Busan Korea Alliance for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (KAPCA) Busan Gupo Dog Meat Market

So, let’s take a look at Article 9 of the Educational Environment Protection Act (Prohibited Acts, etc. in Educational Environment Protection Zones).
Click HERE to see the English translation from Korea’s National Law Information Center. Or see below the screenshot of this page.

It states, “No one shall conduct or install any of the following acts or facilities in an educational environment protection zone to protect the health and sanitation, safety, learning, and educational environment of students: Provided, That in case of a relative protection zone, exceptions shall be made to any acts and facilities deemed not to have an adverse impact on learning and educational environment by a superintendent of education or a person delegated thereby after deliberation by the Local Committee, among acts and facilities provided in subparagraphs 14 through 29:”

Take a look at the list of 29 different types of facilities that are prohibited under this article.
It seems that Gupo Dog Meat Market falls under at least several of these prohibited facilities.
Section 2 – Facilities emitting water pollutants
Section 3 – Livestock waste generating facilities
Section 4 – Excrements disposal facilities
Section 5 – Facilities emitting malodor
Section 6 – Facilities emitting noise
Section 7 – Waste treatment facilities
Section 8 – Carcasses (Prevention of Contagious Animal Diseases)
Section 10 – Facilities for livestock slaughter
Section 11 – Livestock markets

Can this be negligence on the part of Busan Bukbu Office of Education to not understand what Article 9 is about, or is this an intentional deceit to excuse their neglect and inaction? Perhaps they are not aware that that we are bilingual, and information about Korean laws are available online from anywhere around the world?

We definitely need clarification and more details which is more thorough, credible and honest from the Busan Bukbu Office of Education.

In addition, we are told from a local source that the Busan Buk-gu District Task Force on the Gupo Dog Meat Market issue isn’t doing anything.

Call for Action

Please send a response letter to the Busan Bukbu Office of Education. Send copies of this letter to the Ministry of Education and Busan Bukgu District Office.

Superintendent Daesong Kim
Busan Bukbu Office of Education
Baekyangdae-ro 1016 Beondagil 44
Buk-gu, Busan, 46637
South Korea

Send a copy of your letter to:

Minister Kim Sang-Kon
Ministry of Education
Government Complex-Sejong
408 Galmae-ro, Sejong, 30119
South Korea

Director Hwang Jae-gwan
Busan Metropolitan City Buk-gu
Nakdong-daero 1570 beon-gil 33, Buk-gu, Busan, 46504
South Korea

📝 Suggested message

To Busan Bukbu Office of Education,

The response we received from the Busan Bukbu Office of Education is as follows:
“For the Busan Bukbu Office of Education to take administrative action to ban Gupo Dog Meat Market from operating within the School Environment, Hygiene, Cleanup Zone, they must violate the list of prohibited acts stipulated in Article 9 of the “ “Educational Environment Protection Act”” (enacted February 3, 2016, enforcement on February 4, 2017). However, this provision does not apply to Gupo Dog Meat Market and therefore, even if they are within the boundary of Deokchun Elementary School’s School Environment, Hygiene, Cleanup Zone, the Busan Bukbu Office of Education cannot take any legal actions.”

However, we know for a fact that your response is not truthful. That’s because we looked up Article 9 of the Educational Environment Protection Act (Prohibited Acts, etc. in Educational Environment Protection Zones) and it is stated below:
“Article 9 (Prohibited Acts, etc. in Educational Environment Protection Zones)
No one shall conduct or install any of the following acts or facilities in an educational environment protection zone to protect the health and sanitation, safety, learning, and educational environment of students: Provided, That in case of a relative protection zone, exceptions shall be made to any acts and facilities deemed not to have an adverse impact on learning and educational environment by a superintendent of education or a person delegated thereby after deliberation by the Local Committee, among acts and facilities provided in subparagraphs 14 through 29:

1. Facilities emitting air pollutants in excess of the permissible emission levels under Article 16 (1) of the Clean Air Conservation Act;

2. Facilities emitting water pollutants in excess of the permissible emission levels under Article 32 (1) under the Water Quality and Aquatic Ecosystem Conservation Act, and wastewater treatment facilities under Article 48 of that Act;

3. Waste-generating facilities under Article 11 of the Act on the Management and Use of Livestock Excreta; disposal facilities under Article 12 thereof; and public disposal facilities under Article 24 thereof;

4. Excrements disposal facilities under subparagraph 11 of Article 2 of the Sewerage Act;

5. Facilities emitting malodor in excess of the maximum allowable emission level under Article 7 of the Malodor Prevention Act;

6. Facilities emitting noise or vibration in excess of the permissible levels under Articles 7 and 21 of the Noise aIt seems that Gupo Dog Meat Market falls under at least several of these prohibited facilities. nd Vibration Control Act;

7. Waste treatment facilities under subparagraph 8 of Article 2 of the Wastes Control Act;

8. Carcasses under Articles 11 (1) and 20 (1) of the Act on the Prevention of Contagious Animal Diseases; contaminated objects under Article 23 (1) thereof; and incineration and burial sites of objects subject to prohibition of importation under 33 (1) thereof;

9. Crematorial facilities under subparagraph 8 of Article 2 of the Act on Funeral Services, etc. and charnel facilities under subparagraph 9 of the same Article;

10. Facilities for livestock slaughter business under Article 21 (1) 1 of the Livestock Products Sanitary Control Act;

11. Livestock markets under Article 34 (1) of the Livestock Industry Act;”

It seems that the Gupo Dog Meat Market falls under several of these prohibited facilities. In addition, we are informed that the Busan Buk-gu District Office’s Task Force for the Gupo Dog Meat Market is ignoring their responsibility to the public and is not actively working to resolve this issue. In our opinion, this is unacceptable. We request a thorough and honest clarification from your office.
Sincerely,

📝 Suggested message in Korean (Please include this in your petition.)

부산광역시 북부 교육지원청에서 보내온 답변은 아래와 같습니다.

“북부교육지원청에서 구포개시장을 교육환경보호구역 내에서 시설 및 행위(영업)을 하지 못하도록 규제를 하기 위해서는 [교육 환경보호에 관한 법률] (2016.2.3 제정, 2017.2.4 시행) 제9조에 규정한 교육환경보호구역에서의 금지행위등에 해당되어야 합니다. 그러나, 구포개시장은 이 규정에 해당되지 않기 때문에 비록 덕천초등학교의 교육환경보호구역 (학교 환경위생정화구역)에 해당된다 하더라도 북부교육지원청에서는 법적인 규제를 하지 못하는 이유입니다.”

그러나 북부 교육지원청에서의 답변은 옳지않다는 것을 저희는 잘 알 수 있습니다. [교육 환경보호에 관한 법률] (2016.2.3 제정, 2017.2.4 시행) 제9조를 보면 다음과 같은 규정이 있습니다.

“제9조(교육환경보호구역에서의 금지행위 등)
누구든지 학생의 보건•위생, 안전, 학습과 교육환경 보호를 위하여 교육환경보호구역에서는 다음 각 호의 어느 하나에 해당하는 행위 및 시설을 하여서는 아니 된다. 다만, 상대보호구역에서는 제14호부터 제29호까지에 규정된 행위 및 시설 중 교육감이나 교육감이 위임한 자가 지역위원회의 심의를 거쳐 학습과 교육환경에 나쁜 영향을 주지 아니한다고 인정하는 행위 및 시설은 제외한다.
1. 「대기환경보전법」 제16조제1항에 따른 배출허용기준을 초과하여 대기오염물질을 배출하는 시설
2. 「물환경보전법」 제32조제1항에 따른 배출허용기준을 초과하여 수질오염물질을 배출하는 시설과 제48조에 따른 폐수종말처리시설
3. 「가축분뇨의 관리 및 이용에 관한 법률」 제11조에 따른 배출시설, 제12조에 따른 처리시설 및 제24조에 따른 공공처리시설
4. 「하수도법」 제2조제11호에 따른 분뇨처리시설
5. 「악취방지법」 제7조에 따른 배출허용기준을 초과하여 악취를 배출하는 시설
6. 「소음•진동관리법」 제7조 및 제21조에 따른 배출허용기준을 초과하여 소음•진동을 배출하는 시설
7. 「폐기물관리법」 제2조제8호에 따른 폐기물처리시설
8. 「가축전염병 예방법」 제11조제1항•제20조제1항에 따른 가축 사체, 제23조제1항에 따른 오염물건 및 제33조제1항에 따른 수입금지 물건의 소각•매몰지
9. 「장사 등에 관한 법률」 제2조제8호에 따른 화장시설•제9호에 따른 봉안시설 및 제13호에 따른 자연장지(같은 법 제16조제1항제1호에 따른 개인•가족자연장지와 제2호에 따른 종중•문중자연장지는 제외한다)
10. 「축산물 위생관리법」 제21조제1항제1호에 따른 도축업 시설
11. 「축산법」 제34조제1항에 따른 가축시장

구포개시장이 교육 환경보호에 관한 법률 제9조에 명시된 교육환경보호구역에서의 여러 금지행위에 해당되는 행위 및 시설을 하고 있다는 것을 분명히 확인할 수 있습니다.
그리고 언급하신 구포시장 정비추진단은 현재 별 활동이 없다고 들었습니다.
이런 부분들에 대해서 명확하고 솔직한 답변을 해주시기를 요청드립니다.