Seoul Superintendent Candidate Park Sun-young Withdraws: "Illegalities and Fraud Rampant, Cannot Participate in Election"

Conflict Continues in Conservative Candidate Unification Process for Seoul Superintendent of Education
Resignation Declared Citing Illegality in Elector Registration Process

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Ahead of the June local elections, Park Seon-young, head of the 21st Century Education Forum, announced her withdrawal from the preliminary candidacy in the unification process of moderate and conservative candidates for Seoul Superintendent of Education.

On the 29th, a day before the announcement of candidates by the Metropolitan Area Superintendent Candidate Unification Promotion Council (hereafter referred to as Gyochuhyeop), Park Seon-young, head of the 21st Century Education Forum, declared her withdrawal from the preliminary candidacy.

Candidate Park stated, "I am withdrawing from the preliminary candidacy for Seoul Superintendent of Education based on my principles and legal beliefs. I cannot participate in or condone an election process rife with illegality, fraud, and violence," adding, "I am deeply distressed to have reached a point where I can no longer overlook these issues and must withdraw."

Park pointed out, "Problems began in earnest starting with the registration of the electorate for unification, with a large influx of people from other regions who do not reside in Seoul, increasing the risk of proxy voting," and added, "The members lacked awareness of the illegality involved and are proceeding with voting by the electorate without efforts to eliminate or remedy these illegalities."

She continued, "Current Seoul principals and their families, as well as key supervisors at the education office, have reported identity theft and violations of the Personal Information Protection Act," stating, "These incidents are clear violations of the Personal Information Protection Act and obstruction of business by abuse of authority. Although I proposed ways to minimize the illegality, they were not accepted."

Preliminary candidates for Seoul Superintendent of Education had agreed to unify and planned to announce the candidate on the 30th. Gyochuhyeop decided to determine the unified candidate by combining public opinion polls (60%) and the results of the electorate voting conducted since the 27th (40%).

Besides Park, candidates who agreed to unify include Lee Dae-young, former Deputy Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education; Cho Young-dal, professor at Seoul National University College of Education; Cho Jeon-hyuk, chairman of Seoul Innovation and Fair Education Committee; and Choi Myung-bok, former Seoul City Education Council member. On the 20th, preliminary candidate Cho Young-dal declared he would not participate in the unification process, and with Park’s withdrawal, conflicts continue in the unification process.

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