Teachers took to the streets on Saturday in their third rally in downtown Seoul calling for the normalization of public education and commemorating an elementary school teacher who died last month in an apparent suicide in Seoul’s Seocho District.

Thousands of teachers gathered from across the country for the rally that started at around 2 p.m. near the Government Complex in Gwanghwamun as they demanded due rights to education both for the sake of faculty members and students.

Protest organizers had said earlier they plan to lay out several demands including getting to the bottom of the recent teacher's death with no stones unturned and legislation of a special law to protect teachers' educational activities.

They are also demanding a revision to a law on the punishment of child abuse crimes and a unified and systematic channel to deal with matters such as complaints from parents so that individual teachers don't have to face them personally.

Organizers are expecting some 50-thousand to attend the rally including three- thousand from outside the greater-Seoul area. They said the family of the deceased teacher also intends to join.

Given the growing attendance from five-thousand at the first rally and 30-thousand in the second, many believe a greater number of participants may gather.