[News Figures] 'Progressive' Seoul Superintendent of Education Jeong Geun-sik: "Gangnam 3 District Parents, Don't Worry"

With the election of a progressive education superintendent in the 10·16 Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education by-election, most of the key policies such as the Innovation Schools and the Student Human Rights Ordinance, which were promoted by former Seoul Education Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon, are expected to be maintained.

The newly appointed Seoul Education Superintendent, Jeong, was born in 1957 in Iksan, Jeonbuk. He entered the Department of Sociology at Seoul National University and earned his master's and doctoral degrees from the same graduate school. He is one year senior or junior to former Superintendent Cho in the Seoul National University Sociology Department.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Starting his academic career in 1985 at Chonnam National University, he worked as a sociology professor at both Chonnam National University and Seoul National University, pursuing a path as an educator. As a historian, he devoted himself to research on the May 18 Democratic Movement. In particular, he served as the chairman of the Gwangju Human Rights Charter Establishment Committee, contributing to the creation of the Gwangju Human Rights Charter.

From 2005, he served as a non-standing member of the Presidential Committee on the Truth Commission on Anti-National and Pro-Japanese Collaborators during the Roh Moo-hyun administration, and from 2009 to 2012, he held positions such as the director of the Korean Democracy Research Institute at the Memorial Foundation for the Democratic Movement.

Under the Moon Jae-in administration, he served as the chairman of the Past Affairs Committee for Truth and Reconciliation, a ministerial-level position, helping to uncover the truth about the Seongam Academy issue after 40 years of closure.

In this by-election, Superintendent Jeong was elected with 50.24% of the vote, defeating conservative candidate Cho Jeon-hyeok, who received 45.93%, by a margin of 4.31 percentage points. However, he was unable to surpass Cho in the Gangnam 3 districts and Yongsan district. Regarding this, Superintendent Jeong said, "It seems that parents in the so-called 'Gangnam 3 districts' have concerns about me in this election," adding, "I will definitely alleviate those concerns."

Superintendent Jeong will lead Seoul's education until the end of June 2026, completing the remaining term of former Superintendent Cho.

His first approval agenda item is the 'Learning Diagnosis and Healing Center.' This center is a policy that Superintendent Jeong emphasized since his candidacy, designed to diagnose and heal issues such as learning difficulties and borderline intelligence. He stated, "There are many concerns about basic academic skills, so I will first address related matters." Regarding the AI digital textbooks scheduled to be introduced next year, he said, "It is not too late to confirm the actual educational effectiveness before introducing them. I will conduct a careful review."