Jo Jeon-hyeok, An Yang-ok, Hong Hu-jo and 3 others in primary
All candidates accept primary results, support Jo Jeon-hyeok
Jo Jeon-hyeok "I will become a paradigm changer"
Jo Jeon-hyeok, former member of the Grand National Party, was endorsed as the unified conservative candidate for the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education by-election. This marks the first time in 12 years that a conservative candidate has unified in the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education election.
The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Moderate Conservative Candidate Unification Committee (Tongdae-wi) held a press conference on the 25th at the Yeouido Forest Vision Center in Seoul and announced that candidate Jo had been endorsed as the final unified candidate.
Tongdae-wi conducted a public opinion poll on the 21st involving three candidates: Jo, former president of the Korea Federation of Teachers' Associations Ahn Yang-ok, and Hong Hu-jo, professor of education at Korea University. As a result, Jo was endorsed as the final candidate. The polling percentages were not disclosed.
On the day of the unification candidate primary, former president Ahn and professor Hong accepted the results and stated they would support candidate Jo.
Candidate Jo ran in the 2022 Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education election. He served as a member of the 18th National Assembly representing the Grand National Party and was a professor at Incheon National University and Myongji University. His main pledges included improving student academic achievement and reducing private education expenses.
On the day, candidate Jo said, "The unification of moderate conservative candidates, which had repeatedly failed, has dramatically succeeded this time," adding, "This shows the strong demand of the times to change Seoul's education."
He stated, "I, Jo Jeon-hyeok, will become the 'regime changer' and 'paradigm changer' of Seoul's broken and ruined education, and furthermore, of South Korea's education."
Thus, the conservative camp succeeded in endorsing a candidate through a unification promotion organization for the second time since candidate Moon Yong-rin in 2012. In 2014, although candidate Moon was again endorsed by the unification promotion organization, candidate Go Seung-deok rejected this and ran independently, causing vote splitting.
Former Dongguk University professor Park Seon-young, who had expressed intentions to run, withdrew earlier, while former Sangmyung University special professor Kim Young-bae did not participate in the unification primary and registered as a preliminary candidate.
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