Seoul Metropolitan Council's Policy Questioning, Focused Criticism on Oh Se-hoon's 'Seoul Run' Project

Criticism Continues Over EBS Project Overlap and Education Office Authority Undermining
Mayor Oh: "Neglecting Promises Because Term Is One Year Is Not a Duty to Voters"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] As expected, critical voices against Mayor Oh Se-hoon’s education platform 'Seoul Run' continued during the Seoul Metropolitan Council’s policy questions for the mayor.

On the 29th, Assemblywoman Chae Yu-mi (Nowon 5), a member of the Administrative Autonomy Committee of the City Council, pointed out to Mayor Oh, "There is controversy over whether the Seoul Run project overlaps with existing EBS and the Office of Education and whether it undermines the normalization of public education," and posed a quiz: "Medical treatment is for doctors, medicine is for pharmacists, but what about studying?" She emphasized that this is an issue that the Office of Education and the Superintendent of Education should handle.

Assemblywoman Chae also criticized, "The Seoul Run project, which further strengthens private education, does not help at all in normalizing public education," adding, "Should such a reckless project be carried out solely based on one’s philosophy while infringing on the authority of the Office of Education and the Superintendent? Why are children from wealthy families sent to large private academies and expensive private tutoring, while low-income children are only given online lectures?"

Assemblyman Jeon Byung-joo (Gwangjin 1) also pointed out that the project exceeds the mayor’s term. He said, "The term is about one year, but the Seoul Run project involves investing 30 billion won over three years, which is unreasonable," and added, "There is also concern about the public sector encroaching on the private sector."

Assemblyman Seo Yoon-gi (Gwanak 2) questioned, "Will students study if they are just given internet lecture vouchers?" He criticized, "This project will fail 100%. It has no real effect on closing the education gap." He continued, "It seems the mayor has not given up on his presidential dream. The policies presented seem to be shouting, 'I want to be president.'"

In response, Mayor Oh said, "Neglecting campaign promises because the term is one year is not right to the voters," and added, "I believe it is desirable to proceed if there is agreement that this is a project that will start someday." He also argued, "Existing platforms like EBS are one-way, whereas the internet is interactive, which is a significant difference."

Regarding concerns about promoting private education and infringing on the authority of the Office of Education and the Superintendent, he emphasized that the project aims to close the education gap. Mayor Oh stated, "Please judge calmly whether the creation of Seoul Run means the proliferation of private education that did not exist before," and added, "According to Article 4, Clause 2 of the Framework Act on Education, local government heads also have the duty and responsibility to close the education gap, and Seoul Run is an effort to fulfill that."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.