Jeonnam Education Superintendent Election Heats Up with Last-Minute 'Negative Campaign' Disputes

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Jun-kyung] Two days before the June 1 nationwide simultaneous local elections, candidates Kim Dae-jung and Jang Seok-woong continued their heated negative exchanges.

On the 29th, candidate Jang Seok-woong issued a press release stating, "The suspicion that candidate Kim ranks last in integrity is not true," and claimed, "In recent years, the Jeonnam Office of Education's integrity rating has remained at grade 3."

Candidate Jang said, "The drop to grade 4 last year was due to seven corruption cases that occurred in 2017 during the previous superintendent's term, when candidate Kim was serving as the secretary general of the provincial education office. These cases were concluded and the penalty points were reflected in the 2021 integrity evaluation," adding, "In 2017, there was a corruption case involving the supply of blackout screens, where the supplier gained unfair profits and an 800 million won rebate occurred. Without that incident, the rating could have risen from at least grade 3 to grade 2," he reiterated.

He continued, "In 2017, when candidate Kim was working as the secretary general of the Jeonnam Office of Education, the average standardized CSAT score ranked 17th nationwide, actually last place, but during my term as superintendent, it consistently ranked 16th, never last," he added.

Candidate Jang stated, "Currently, the grade rather than the standardized CSAT score is important, and 91% of Jeonnam students enter university through early admission rather than the CSAT," and said, "The 4-year university admission rate for Jeonnam students in the 2021 academic year recorded an all-time high, so our students' abilities have not declined."

In response, candidate Kim Dae-jung, disadvantaged in the final stages of the election, countered by blaming others again for the drop in integrity and last place in the CSAT rankings.

Candidate Kim said, "As the election becomes unfavorable, indiscriminate black propaganda is being carried out at the end. A head of the main office appointed by candidate Jang was arrested during his term," and added, "He was pointed out in an audit for manipulating work performance scores and promoted the employee who led the manipulation. The superintendent's wife used an official car, accompanied public officials, and received gifts, among various corruptions and stains that lowered integrity. How can this be blamed on others?" he questioned.

He continued, "A senior official at the main office called employees and instructed them to 'go to their hometowns to campaign,' and one official is sending indiscriminate messages to acquaintances to campaign," and claimed, "It is doubtful whether the deputy superintendent is properly managing employee attendance."

He then said, "How long has it been since I proposed a policy election and a clean election, yet all kinds of black propaganda are being conducted and even current public officials are being mobilized for illegal elections," and countered, "Please ensure that public officials are not disadvantaged by election interference."

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