Cho Hee-yeon Wins Third Term as Seoul Education Superintendent... First to Achieve Three Terms Since Direct Election System

Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon Wins 38.02% of Votes
Conservative Candidates' Split Brings Reflexive Benefits
"I Will Realize High-Quality Public Education"

Cho Hee-yeon, candidate for Seoul Superintendent of Education, is performing a deep bow at his office in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, as his victory becomes certain. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Candidate Cho Hee-yeon has succeeded in winning a third term as Seoul Superintendent of Education. This marks the first time a three-term superintendent has been elected in Seoul since the introduction of the direct election system.

According to the Election Commission as of 7 a.m., with a counting rate of 99.18%, candidate Cho Hee-yeon is leading with 38.09% of the votes.

The second-place candidate, Cho Jeon-hyeok, received 23.52%, making the gap between him and Cho Hee-yeon 14.57 percentage points, with a difference of 612,129 votes. The third place is Park Sun-young (23.07%), followed by Cho Young-dal (6.65%), Yoon Ho-sang (5.34%), and Choi Bo-seon (3.31%).

Candidate Cho Hee-yeon benefited from the divided conservative vote, similar to the previous two elections. The conservative candidates failed to unify, and although the combined vote share of conservative superintendent candidates exceeded 50%, they were unable to replace the superintendent.

When his victory was confirmed early in the morning, candidate Cho Hee-yeon said in his victory speech, "Beyond eight years of innovative education, I will repay by realizing higher quality public education and a great transition to future education," adding, "I will make Seoul the world’s education capital, complete Seoul education, and change the Republic of Korea."

Candidate Cho stated, "I will actively benchmark issues raised by competing candidates such as basic academic skills, childcare, improving the quality of after-school programs, and expanding free early childhood education," and added, "I will strive to become a superintendent for all, beyond division and confrontation."

He continued, "I will teach our children coexistence and communication, not hostility, exclusion, or hatred. I promise education of coexistence that respects diversity and education of coexistence where diversity blossoms."

In his bid for a third term, candidate Cho pledged "high-quality public education." This includes academic diagnosis through an AI academic improvement system, Seoul-style basic academic skills guarantee system, reducing the number of students per class to under 20, extending childcare for young children and elementary students until 8 p.m., strengthening math, science, and information education, zero-tolerance school meals, expanding the principal recruitment system, and establishing Seoul-style public alternative schools.

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