Helped by a landslide of support from eligible voters in Seoul’s affluent Gangnam district, Kong Jeong-taek, incumbent superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, was elected as the city’s top education official, beating rival Ju Gyeong-bok by a slim margin of 1.8 percentage points. Analysts say that Kong won the election on July 30 because many wealthy voters in Gangnam and its two adjacent districts voted in favor of his election pledges to put more focus on competition in education policy.

The election results showed that Kong’s decisive victory was secured with support from residents in Gangnam and the two adjacent districts. The margin of victory for Kong was some 22,000 votes, but Kong earned some 66,000 more votes than Ju in the three affluent districts of Gangnam, Seocho and Songpa. While Ju earned more votes than Kong in 17 out of 25 districts in Seoul, Ju lost the election because he failed to win the support of voters in the three affluent districts.

Voter turnout in the Gangnam and Seocho districts was 19.1 percent and 19.6 percent, respectively, higher than the average voter turnout of 15.4 percent for Seoul superintendent of education elections. The difference in voter turnout between the three affluent districts and others in Seoul was also higher than for other elections. During the Seoul mayoral election in May 2006, voter turnout in the Gangnam and Seocho districts was 51.9 percent and 50 percent, respectively, compared with the city-wide average of 49.8 percent. In April’s parliamentary election, voter turnout in the Gangnam and Seocho districts stood at 42.3 percent and 45.6 percent each, compared with a city-wide average of 45.8 percent.

The July 30 election demonstrates that residents of the Gangnam and Seocho districts are interested in keeping their edge in education. As the election came to close, Kong focused his campaign on the two districts to appeal to parents in the area.

One of the reasons why voters in the Gangnam area voted in favor of Kong was that his education policy was viewed as favorable to wealthy households that are “able to spend more on private education,” observers say. During the election campaign, Kong pledged to increase the number of private high schools for elite students and so-called special-purpose high schools and establish an “international middle school.” (Gangnam literally means south of the river so the Gangnam area encompasses the districts of Gangnam, Seocho, Songpa and others.)

In fact, Kong won more votes from districts that spend more money on private education. According to a report released in 2005 by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, the cost of private education per student was 685,000 won (US$676) in Seocho, 625,000 won in Gangnam and 596,000 won in Songpa. During this week’s vote, Superintendent-elect Kong won 62.5 percent of the vote in Seocho, 58.36 percent in Songpa and 58 percent in Gangnam.

In another sign that Kong’s education policy favors voters in the Gangnam area, more middle school students from this area were accepted to special purpose high schools than students in other districts in Seoul.

At the prestigious Daewon Foreign Language High School, students from the Gangnam district topped this year’s rankings with 112 passing the test to get into the school, followed by 39 from Seocho and 32 from Songpa.

Song In-soo, the co-leader of a civic group named “World without Worries about Private Education,” said, “It’s doubtful as to whether Kong’s education policy will have a positive impact on schools outside of the Gangnam area. I’m worried that the gap in education among districts may grow even larger in the future and spark a conflict among the districts.”

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