Liberal candidates secured at least 10 of 16 metropolitan and provincial education superintendent posts in the June 3 election, dominating the contest with a sweep of the Seoul metropolitan region where school-age population is concentrated.
As of 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, liberal-leaning candidates had clinched victory in 10 jurisdictions, including Seoul, Gyeonggi and Incheon. In South Gyeongsang Province, where vote counting was about 90% complete, conservative candidate Kwon Soon-ki was leading by 0.05 percentage points. Should Kwon win, the nationwide superintendent landscape would settle at 10 liberals to 6 conservatives. The result marks a sharp shift from the previous election four years ago, when liberals won nine seats and conservatives took eight, producing a relatively balanced ideological map.
Counting results from the June 3 vote showed 10 liberal-leaning winners as of 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. Analysts described the outcome as a virtual landslide for the liberal camp, given its sweep of regions with concentrated school-age populations including Seoul, Gyeonggi, Busan and Incheon. The liberal strategy of easing admissions competition and expanding education welfare appeared to have resonated with voters, while a backlash against the conservative camp following the Dec. 3 martial law incident is also believed to have lifted support for liberal-leaning superintendent candidates.
In Seoul, considered the most closely watched battleground of this year's election, eight candidates entered the race, but incumbent Superintendent Jeong Keun-sik comfortably won re-election. The presence of three liberal-leaning candidates had been seen as a potential variable before the vote, but its actual impact was limited. The internal liberal conflict exposed during the campaign, however, could weigh on future superintendent races. Jeong and rival candidate Han Man-jung filed mutual lawsuits over use of the "democratic-progressive candidate" label, focusing more on negative attacks than policy debate.
The crowded field in the Seoul superintendent race partly reflects practical considerations such as election cost reimbursement. Under the current Public Official Election Act, superintendent candidates can recover half of their election expenses by securing at least 10% of valid votes and the full amount by winning at least 15%. Candidates who withdraw mid-race receive nothing. As a result, many candidates focused on securing a certain vote share rather than pursuing victory, observers said. Conservative candidate Cho Jeon-hyuk emphasized abolishing the student human rights ordinance and opposing homosexuality to rally his base, ultimately recording a vote share in the 20% range. Conservative unified candidate Yoon Ho-sang was projected to win around 15%.
Liberal strength was also evident outside Seoul. In Incheon, incumbent Superintendent Do Sung-hoon won re-election in a three-way race against Lee Dae-hyung and Lim Byung-gu, leveraging his incumbent advantage.
The Daejeon superintendent election, where three-term incumbent Sul Dong-ho was barred from running due to term limits, drew five candidates, the second-largest field after Seoul. Exit polls and mid-count results favored liberal-leaning candidate Sung Kwang-jin, but conservative-leaning Oh Suk-jin won in a tight finish.
In Ulsan, liberal-leaning candidate Cho Yong-sik won, while in Gangwon, liberal-leaning Kang Sam-young defeated incumbent Superintendent Shin Kyung-ho by about 8 percentage points. In Sejong, contrary to exit poll results, centrist-conservative Kang Mi-ae won. Analysts attributed the outcome partly to a controversy that emerged late in the campaign over Education Minister Choi Kyo-jin's support for candidate Lim Jeon-su, which appeared to have hurt Lim.
In Jeju, liberal-leaning Ko Eui-sook defeated conservative-leaning incumbent Superintendent Kim Kwang-soo. In South Jeolla, where two incumbent superintendents ran, current Superintendent Kim Dae-jung won. In Gyeonggi, home to the country's largest school-age population, incumbent Superintendent Lim Tae-hee led in the early count but failed to overcome the organizational strength and name recognition of An Min-suk, a five-term former lawmaker, losing his bid for re-election. In South Gyeongsang, liberal-leaning Song Young-ki and conservative unified candidate Kwon Soon-ki remained locked in a back-and-forth race down to the wire.
Analysts noted that the incumbent advantage failed to work strongly for conservative-leaning sitting superintendents. Eleven incumbents ran in the election, including Seoul's Jeong Keun-sik, Gyeonggi's Lim Tae-hee and Incheon's Do Sung-hoon, but conservative-leaning incumbents enjoyed little advantage outside conservative strongholds such as North Gyeongsang and Daegu. In the 2018 election, all 12 incumbent superintendents won re-election, while in 2022, only nine of 13 incumbents prevailed, indicating a steady weakening of the incumbent advantage.
Voter apathy also remained significant in this election. Because superintendent ballots carry no candidate numbers or party labels, voters with little interest in education issues often vote for candidates listed at the top. A voter surnamed A, who lives in Seoul's Daechi-dong, an area known as the country's "education mecca," said, "I judged whether candidates were liberal or conservative based on the background colors used on their posters. Both camps had so many candidates that it wasn't easy to decide." With invalid ballots in the previous superintendent election four years ago accounting for about 4% of the total, roughly three times the rate in metropolitan and provincial governor races, a substantial number of invalid ballots are also expected this year.
With liberals capturing a majority of superintendent posts in the June 3 election, policies they pledged, including strengthening teaching authority and expanding democratic citizenship education, are expected to gain momentum. Various education welfare policies such as care education and student transportation subsidies are also more likely to proceed as pledged.
However, pledges to convert internal school assessments and the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) to absolute grading systems and other admissions reforms are widely seen as unlikely to materialize, as they fall outside superintendents' authority and require broader social consensus. Converting autonomous private high schools, foreign language high schools and international high schools into general high schools also faces hurdles, as it requires coordination with the Ministry of Education through revisions to the Enforcement Decree of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
Common pledges among the 10 liberal-leaning winners of the June 3 election included guaranteeing teachers' basic political rights, improving conditions for non-regular school workers, strengthening artificial intelligence (AI) literacy and critical thinking education, and expanding democratic citizenship education. Liberal-leaning superintendent-elects, in particular, view democracy and citizenship education as having gained importance after the Dec. 3 martial law incident and plan to strengthen related educational content. Democratic citizenship education is expected to emerge as a major agenda item early in the new superintendents' terms.
Pledges to shift internal assessments and the CSAT to absolute grading, however, are seen as unlikely to be realized, as they exceed superintendents' authority. CSAT and internal assessment methods fall under the jurisdiction of the National Education Commission and the Ministry of Education and affect the entire university admissions system. With students competing for a limited number of preferred universities, a shift to absolute grading could weaken differentiation and cause admissions confusion, making it difficult to gain support from the government and the National Assembly.
The same applies to converting autonomous private, foreign language and international high schools into general high schools. Although liberal superintendents have consistently pushed for the change, it requires coordination with the Ministry of Education, including revisions to the Enforcement Decree of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. With pushback expected from parent groups and some schools, actual implementation will likely depend on the central government's policy direction and political discussions.
AI education is expected to be strengthened nationwide regardless of ideological orientation following this election. Of the 58 superintendent candidates, 54 listed strengthening AI education as a major pledge. Customized learning support policies aimed at addressing declining basic academic skills, an issue persistently raised since the COVID-19 pandemic, are also expected to gain traction.
Cash-based education welfare pledges such as student funds, transportation subsidies and expanded experiential learning allowances are also likely to be pursued in many regions. While critics have warned that recent superintendent races have devolved into "populist pledge competitions," local education offices' fiscal capacity remains a constraint.
