Jang Seok-woong and Kim Dae-jung Education Superintendent Candidates Clash Over 'Basic Education Income Pledge'

by Lee Jungkyung

Published 21 Apr.2022 18:30(KST)

Updated 16 Aug.2025 16:36(KST)

Unrealistic Empty Promises vs Superintendent Without Alternatives in Education

Jang Seok-woong, Preliminary Candidate for Jeonnam Superintendent of Education

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Jun-kyung] Jeong Seok-woong and Kim Dae-jung, preliminary candidates for Jeonnam Superintendent of Education, fiercely clashed over differing interpretations of the pledge to introduce an education basic income in Jeonnam.

When candidate Kim Dae-jung announced on the 18th a pledge to provide a monthly education basic income of 200,000 KRW per student funded by the ‘Local Extinction Response Fund,’ candidate Jeong Seok-woong criticized it as an entirely unrealistic ‘empty promise.’

On the 21st, candidate Jeong issued a press release stating, “Candidate Kim’s pledge to introduce an education basic income in Jeonnam is an unfeasible empty promise,” and rebutted, “Kim’s claim to provide an annual education basic income of 2.4 million KRW per student at 200,000 KRW per month is impossible in reality.”

Candidate Jeong argued, “The Local Extinction Response Fund is a fund that cannot be used for cash support such as personnel expenses or consumable costs, so proposing to use that fund to provide students with a monthly basic income of 200,000 KRW is close to ignorance.”

Kim Dae-jung, Preliminary Candidate for Jeonnam Superintendent of Education

In response, candidate Kim Dae-jung stated through materials, “I deplore candidate Jeong Seok-woong’s shallow understanding and irresponsible attitude toward resolving local extinction,” and countered, “I want to ask whether an empty superintendent who has neither done anything nor has the will to resolve local extinction has the right to criticize this as an empty promise without any alternatives.”

Candidate Kim responded, “The education basic income pledge is a promise aimed at resolving local extinction and promoting regional balanced development, and the Local Extinction Response Fund is a long-term project that Jeonnam and its 16 local governments can proactively develop and implement gradually.”

He further counterattacked, “The education basic income is the first step toward completely free education, and if candidate Jeong Seok-woong, who claims to be progressive, was unaware of this, it is ignorance; if he knew, then it is mocking the residents.”

This is the first time candidate Jeong, who holds the incumbent premium, has criticized candidate Kim, and this debate is expected to mark the beginning of a full-scale clash between the two preliminary candidates.