Yoo Eun-hae, a preliminary candidate for Gyeonggi Province education superintendent, officially announced her withdrawal from the race on Tuesday.
"I fell short," Yoo said in a statement, confirming her decision not to run.
However, she voiced strong dissatisfaction with the primary process for selecting the progressive camp's Gyeonggi education superintendent candidate, in which she had competed against preliminary candidate Ahn Min-suk and others.
"Hastily covering up the serious circumstances of collective proxy registration and proxy payment, which had been prohibited, while requesting an investigation yet demanding immediate acceptance of the outcome, is violence that denies democracy," Yoo said. "Both the framework of the Gyeonggi Education Innovation Alliance and the unification process have failed."
She then directed sharp criticism at Ahn, who was selected as the unified candidate through the primary: "An education superintendent must be able to speak confidently about honesty and responsibility before children. It is a matter for his own conscience to judge."
Earlier, the Gyeonggi Education Innovation Alliance had selected Ahn as the unified candidate from among four contenders — Yoo, Ahn, Park Hyo-jin, and Sung Ki-seon — by combining public opinion poll results (weighted 45%) with electoral college voting results (weighted 55%).
Immediately after Ahn's selection as the unified candidate, however, Yoo's camp filed a formal objection. The filing alleged that during the electoral college registration period, a specific candidate's campaign had recruited electoral college members by proxy-paying the 3,000 won participation fee. Her camp demanded an investigation and requested that the confirmation of the unified candidate be suspended until the investigation results were released.
The Gyeonggi Education Innovation Alliance accepted Yoo's request for an investigation but upheld its decision to select Ahn as the unified candidate, stating that "no defect serious enough to cancel or suspend the effect of the already confirmed and announced unified candidate has been found."
Following Yoo's announcement of her withdrawal, Ahn responded on his social media. "I offer my gratitude and respect to former Minister Yoo Eun-hae for her difficult decision," he wrote. "Considering the many agonies and burdens she must have carried in reaching this decision, I will solemnly accept Minister Yoo's resolve."
"I feel sorry toward the candidate and supporters who were hurt by what happened during the unification process," he added. "As I respect Minister Yoo's sincerity and affection for education, as well as her philosophy and vision for educational reform, I will carry forward her values and policies of rebuilding shattered Gyeonggi education and creating schools where children can breathe."
With Yoo's withdrawal announcement, the Gyeonggi education superintendent election in June is now confirmed as a two-way race between incumbent Superintendent Lim Tae-hee and Ahn.
