As election season enters full swing, a familiar scene is being reenacted ― “polifessors” swarming the campaign offices of presidential candidates.
Polifessor is a compound of politics and professor. The term was coined here to refer to professors who are keen to sell their knowledge to their political patrons to get parliamentary seats or government posts.
According to reports, the campaign offices of the three presidential runners ― Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Party, Moon Jae-in of the main opposition Democratic United Party and independent candidate Ahn Cheol-soo ― are already crowded with professors who are interested in entering into politics.
The number of professors who have been officially named as advisors to the three candidates exceeds 200. The figure is believed to top 500 if those who work for the candidates unofficially are included.
In the market for polifessors, supply has always been in excess of demand. This phenomenon has to do with current law that allows professors to participate in politics freely.
The Political Parties Act bans public officials from getting involved in a political party or political activities. But professors do not face such restrictions. More importantly, professors are not subject to the regulation that requires public officials to resign from their posts 90 days before an election if they intend to participate in it.
Thus, professors can run in a parliamentary election without giving up their professor status. Some even carry out campaigning without taking a leave of absence. If they win the election, they can easily get a leave of absence from their universities. If they lose, they just return to campus.
Professors who are appointed to government posts can also retain their professorship. Universities allow them to get back to their teaching positions after finishing their stints in government.
Professors’ participation in politics has several positive aspects. They can help political parties draw up campaign pledges. The government can also tap into their professional knowledge in tackling complicated problems.
Professors who return to campus after serving as lawmakers or government officials can convey to students their experience-based knowledge that cannot be found in books.
Some advocates even assert that reform of Korean society would be impossible without the political participation of reform-minded scholars. On these grounds, they argue that professors should not be criticized for participating in politics.
Yet the public as well as students are getting increasingly critical about polifessors. The primary reason is that such professors tend to ignore their primary duty ― teaching their students and carrying out research in their fields of study.
As criticism mounted, the 18th National Assembly promoted a bill to require professors to take a leave of absence before running in a parliamentary election and to quit their jobs after they earn Assembly seats. Yet lawmakers failed to push it through.
A similar bill has already been submitted to the newly formed Assembly. Lawmakers are urged to pass it this time to curb professors’ excessive involvement in politics.
