Declaration of 'Second Term' Return... Former Busan Superintendent Kim Seok-jun Running in By-election

A former superintendent with two terms of experience has announced his candidacy, signaling a ‘return’ to the vacant leadership position of Busan education.

Former Busan Superintendent Kim Seok-jun declared on the 20th that he will run in the Busan Superintendent of Education by-election scheduled for April 2.

On the same day at 10 a.m., Kim held a press conference in the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education press room, stating that he decided to run to normalize the crisis-ridden Busan education system. Prior to this, at 9 a.m., he registered as a preliminary candidate for the Busan Superintendent of Education by-election at the Busan City Election Commission.

During the press conference, he pointed out, “Busan education rapidly collapsed within a short period of two years and six months due to lack of communication, one-sided administration, and showy administration, eventually leading to the absence of a superintendent caused by election fraud.”

He added, “Since the winner of this by-election will have only about one year in office, there is no time to study or practice, so a practical superintendent rather than an experimental one is needed,” and declared, “As a re-elected superintendent whose qualifications and capabilities have been verified, I will run again to meet the demands of the educational community and citizens who wish to restore Busan education to normal.”

Kim said, “During my tenure as superintendent, I elevated the status of Busan education through the full implementation of free education, a groundbreaking shift to future education, strengthened career and college admission support, and innovation in educational spaces, but these were unfinished and ongoing efforts,” promising, “I will bring Busan education, which has gone off track, back to its original position and lead it toward a more future-oriented direction.”

The educational policy direction Kim revealed that day focuses on reducing educational disparities and improving basic academic skills through ‘public education chances’ that surpass ‘parental chances.’

He expressed his determination to make Busan a city where ‘public education chances’?not ‘parental chances’?are a source of pride, aiming to resolve educational disparities between the eastern and western regions of Busan and promote balanced educational development. He also emphasized his commitment to ensuring basic academic skills by enhancing all students’ numeracy and literacy.

Kim also promised to make Busan a sanctuary for AI education to strengthen children’s academic skills and capabilities. Acknowledging that AI is essential and highly useful but still in its early stages of adoption, he said, “We will actively promote proper AI usage education so that children are not overwhelmed by AI.” He advocated implementing proper AI utilization education by introducing a Prompt Engineering process to develop ‘the power to ask questions’ as one method.

He clearly stated his position to implement ‘right education’ that fosters K-democratic citizens. Kim said, “Observing the current national turmoil, I deeply feel the importance of proper democratic citizenship education and history education,” and pledged to strengthen constitutional education that teaches the ideals and operating principles of Korean democracy while promoting democratic citizenship education, student self-governance activities, and labor rights education.

Kim emphasized that he will innovate the culture of educational sites through practical educational administration reforms that the educational community agrees upon. He declared that policies not supported by teachers, students, and parents will be boldly discarded. In particular, he plans to focus on reducing the workload at schools to create an environment where educational activities can be prioritized, completing free education, implementing more detailed welfare policies by social class, and creating a safe educational environment for both teachers and students.

He also expressed his strong will to actively pursue educational policies to respond to the crisis of regional extinction. Regarding this, he said, “All institutions, companies, and citizens in Busan must unite to solve job issues that can prevent youth outflow and increase birth rates,” and added, “The education office will also do its utmost to address Busan’s serious population problems.” He conveyed his intention to realize cooperative Busan education that responds to regional extinction by converting closed schools due to declining student numbers into spaces for community revitalization and expanding facilities that provide various opportunities and experiences for Busan students.

Former Busan Superintendent of Education Kim Seok-jun.

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