Concerns are mounting that South Korea's elections for superintendents in 16 metropolitan and provincial education offices will once again be a "blind election," marked by a flood of candidates and unification disputes. With the campaign dominated by political and ideological clashes rather than education policy competition, and candidate name recognition remaining low, calls are growing for an overhaul of the superintendent election system.
According to the National Election Commission on Tuesday, a total of 58 candidates have registered for the nationwide superintendent elections to be held Wednesday. Although the number of districts decreased by one from four years ago after South Jeolla and Gwangju decided to elect a single integrated superintendent, the number of candidates has actually increased. In 14 metropolitan and provincial regions excluding Gyeonggi and North Jeolla, three or more candidates are running, while Seoul has the largest field nationwide with eight candidates competing.
In the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education superintendent race in particular, both progressive and conservative camps failed to field unified candidates, leading to a series of backlashes, lawsuits, and complaints over the unification process and its outcome. Political and ideological clashes continued until the final stretch. Candidate Cho Jeon-hyuk hung a banner reading "Withdrawal of Indictment = Destruction of the Constitution" and staged a performance tearing up an "indictment withdrawal document," while putting forward slogans such as "opposition to queer and homosexual education." Candidate Yoon Ho-sang released a photo taken with Pastor Jun Kwang-hoon of Sarang Jeil Church, who is classified as far-right, before belatedly requesting that the media refrain from reporting on it.
The difficulty voters face in comparing and vetting candidates is another chronic problem. Superintendent elections are held without party names or numbers, and candidate name recognition is low. Combined with multi-candidate fields, this makes it difficult to fully grasp each candidate's educational philosophy and policies. Most candidates have put forward similar pledges, including expanding artificial intelligence (AI) education, improving the educational environment, raising basic academic achievement, and protecting teachers' rights, leaving little policy differentiation, observers say.
Experts say institutional reforms reflecting the unique nature of superintendent elections are needed. Park Nam-gi, professor emeritus at Gwangju National University of Education, said, "The current system forces candidates to rely on separate organizations or outside groups, which keeps repeating unification disputes and camp confrontations." Park Ju-hyung, a professor at Gyeongin National University of Education, also said, "The election commission must strengthen its functions of vetting candidates, comparing pledges, and holding policy debates so that voters can sufficiently examine candidates' educational philosophies and policies."
