Negative offensive continues at press conference
On the 10th, a day before the advance voting for the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education by-election, the two major candidates, Cho Jeon-hyuk from the conservative camp and candidate Jeong Geun-sik from the progressive camp, continued their sharp negative offensive by referring to their opponents as “former Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon’s avatar” and “a New Right candidate involved in school violence.” went Both camps believe that the outcome will be decided in advance voting, and are putting all their efforts into last-minute campaigning, as the main vote is held on a weekday and the total voter turnout is expected to be less than 30%.
At a press conference held on this day at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education in Jongno-gu, Seoul, Candidate Cho said about Candidate Chung, “This election is the result of former Superintendent Cho’s criminal hiring corruption, and the cost is a whopping 56 billion won,” and “(Candidate Chung) is former Superintendent Cho. He criticized, “He presented himself as an avatar, saying he would defend the superintendent’s corruption crimes and inherit his policies.” Regarding the ‘school violence controversy’ surrounding him, he said, “It was a fight that happened during my adolescence and it was an accident,” and “I reconciled with that friend, and he took classes in a different department (at university) and there was no problem. Rather, he explained, “Repenting and reflecting on mistakes is why education is necessary.” He then said, “We will establish a ‘School Evaluation Office’ under the Office of Education to measure the educational ability of schools,” and said that he would expand diagnostic tests such as the ‘Elementary Diagnostic Evaluation’ and also review a plan to disclose the results of each school by dividing them into ‘high, middle, and low.’ Regarding the Student Human Rights Ordinance, he said it was “anti-educational and destructive to education” and announced that he would revise it to the “Student Rights and Obligations Ordinance.”
Candidate Chung said at a subsequent meeting, “If we continue like this, we will enter the world of darkness of the New Right.” He strongly criticized Candidate Cho, saying, “Please protect our children from candidates involved in school violence and New Right candidates.” Regarding Candidate Cho’s criticism that this by-election is being held as a result of former Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon’s criminal hiring corruption, he said, “We fully acknowledge that the legal process was wrong,” but added, “The issue of reinstatement of dismissed teachers is a task of the times and the right thing to do in terms of social justice.” He said. Regarding the diagnosis of academic ability, he said, “A uniform evaluation method is not desirable. He said, “A performance evaluation method is more important than a written test,” and announced that he would establish a ‘Learning Diagnosis and Healing Center’ and develop a ‘Seoul Education Polarization Index’ to prepare customized measures. However, he withheld an answer regarding the specific diagnosis method, saying, “It is not a matter that the Superintendent of Education can answer spontaneously.”
Meanwhile, Candidate Chung announced that he plans to participate in advance voting with his wife at the community center in Bukahyeon-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul at 10:30 a.m. on the 11th, the first day of advance voting for the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education by-election to be held on the 11th and 12th. Since the main vote was held on the 16th, a weekday, and the voter turnout in past superintendent by-elections was only around 20%, it appears that the intention is to collect as many votes as possible in the early voting held on the weekend. Candidate Cho plans to participate in the main election to be held on the 16th.
Among the by-elections for superintendents of education held independently in the past, the highest voter turnout was the Ulsan city superintendent of education by-elections in April 2023, which was only 26.5%. The voter turnout for the Gyeongbuk Superintendent of Education by-election held in April 2009 was 24.3%, and the voter turnout for the Chungnam City Superintendent of Education by-election held on the same day was only 17.6%. The election for superintendent of education, which is not nominated by a political party, does not receive much attention from voters, and the by-election is held on a weekday without a designated public holiday, resulting in a low voter turnout. The voter turnout in this Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education by-election is also expected to be difficult to exceed 30%.
Reporter Yeo Geun-ho [email protected]
-
- great
- 0dog
-
- I’m sad
- 0dog
-
- I’m angry
- 0dog
-
- I recommend it
- dog