Seoul's education authorities said yesterday they will make public the names of teachers who committed serious cases of misconduct. The disclosure is stirring heated debate over privacy rights.

"Serious misconduct" includes accepting bribes, sexual harassment and leaking exam questions.

Principals of schools with offenders will also be slapped with poor performance evaluations, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said.

The office also plans to launch a permanent inspection team to watch over teachers.

Just three months after the office announced stronger anticorruption measures last year, an elementary school principal was found to have taken kickbacks from a school caterer and an educational material supplier.

Government surveys show that the Seoul Office of Education was the most corruptible among 16 local education offices for the past two years.

The plan to disclose names, however, is drawing backlash from teachers as it could badly hurt the reputation of offenders their family members as well.

Profiles of child molesters are made public under a juvenile protection law, but there are no legal grounds for naming corrupt teachers as of yet.

"Nobody is against the idea that venal teachers should be weeded out, but many teachers are likely to oppose the possible violation of privacy rights," said Kim Dong-seok, spokesman of the Korea Federation of Teachers' Association.

The Korean Teachers & Education Workers' Union, however, welcomed the plan.

"Taking bribes cannot be accepted under any circumstance," said the union's spokesman, Hyun In-cheol. "We expect the plan (to name offenders) will help boost morality and responsibility of teachers."