[June 3 Election] Jeonnam-Gwangju Unified Superintendent Race Narrows to Five... Alliances and Negative Campaigning in Play

Sukyoung Kang, Daejung Kim, Jeongseon Lee, Ganho Jang, and Daewook Choi

Each candidate expands support through unification efforts and campaign pledges

With one month remaining until the June 3 local elections to select the inaugural Superintendent of Education for the Jeonnam-Gwangju Metropolitan City, the field of preliminary candidates—once numbering over ten—has been narrowed to five through the consolidation of support and unification processes.

From the left: Sukyoung Kang, Daejung Kim, Jeongseon Lee, Ganho Jang, Daewook Choi, preliminary candidates. Photo by Yonhap News.

As this election will take place in a large electoral district created by the first-ever merger of educational administration between Gwangju and Jeonnam, attention is focused on competition among the candidates, behind-the-scenes alliances with the Democratic Party's campaign organization, negative campaigning, and the potential for further consolidation.

According to the election commission on the 3rd, the five remaining preliminary candidates for Superintendent of Education in Jeonnam-Gwangju Metropolitan City are: Sukyoung Kang, former superintendent at Jeonnam Office of Education; Daejung Kim, current Superintendent of Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education; Jeongseon Lee, current Superintendent of Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education; Ganho Jang, former head of the Jeonnam branch of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ Union; and Daewook Choi, former Vice President of the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Associations.

Recently, two candidates—Jeongseon Lee and Ganho Jang—successfully unified their campaigns. On April 30, Jeongseon Lee was selected as the unified candidate, defeating Haeryong Kim, former head of the Yeosu Office of Education, and Dugap Ko, professor at Mokpo National University, both of whom are based in the eastern and western regions of Jeonnam.

Lee is credited with achieving the unification without any major conflicts with Kim Haeryong and Ko Dugap, thereby expanding his base beyond Gwangju to the whole of Jeonnam.

Candidate Ganho Jang won the primary held by the Jeonnam-Gwangju Unified Nomination Committee on May 1–2 against Seonghong Jeong, former head of the Gwangju branch of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ Union, and was selected as the unified candidate.

Both Jang and Jeong, who previously served as branch heads of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ Union (KTU), were each selected as unified candidates for Jeonnam and Gwangju respectively by a nomination body composed of educational and civic groups from the Democratic and progressive camps.

It is analyzed that for Jang, the key to maximizing the synergy of unification will be to consolidate the support of the KTU branches in Gwangju and Jeonnam, as well as local social and labor organizations, to prevent their support from becoming fragmented.

Jang’s campaign pledges center on direct educational welfare, with a focus on educational stipends and halved tuition fees. He is striving to strengthen ties with civic groups and his support base by promising policies such as providing an annual education stipend of 1.2 million won for each high school senior, a 5 million won grant for young adults entering society, and free public transportation for youth.

Previously, candidate Daejung Kim also secured the endorsement of Seungtae Moon, former Vice President of Suncheon National University, who had been considered a potential candidate from Jeonnam. It is also known that Kim has effectively gained the support of Yongtae Kim, former principal of Gwangju Electronic Technical High School, and Kyungmi Oh, former Director of Education at the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education, both of whom failed to become unified candidates in the Gwangju social-labor community unification process.

Running independently, candidate Sukyoung Kang has pledged to overhaul the school system to a ‘5 years elementary–4 years middle–3 years high school’ structure and has expressed her intention to remain in the race until the end. Daewook Choi is also pursuing an independent campaign, criticizing the current superintendent system and advocating for the restoration of expertise in educational administration.

Daewook Choi, former Vice President of the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Associations, is focusing on expanding his recognition under the banner of ‘restoring teachers’ rights’. He is intensifying his outreach by spending mornings in the Jeonnam region and actively meeting voters at Gwangju subway stations and local festivals during the evening commute.

With the process of candidate consolidation largely complete, the focus during the remaining month of campaigning will likely be on presenting an educational philosophy that encompasses both Jeonnam and Gwangju, as well as managing campaign organizations—factors expected to influence the outcome.

A local education official commented, “The candidates are making every effort to cover both Gwangju and Jeonnam with their pledges and on-site campaigning. However, there remain many variables in the superintendent election, including the possibility of further alliances and the presentation of concrete blueprints for post-integration educational administration.”

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