Candidates leading in exit polls Wednesday put lifestyle-focused campaign pledges front and center — from free transit for students to mental health support for teachers

Candidates leading in the nationwide superintendent elections based on exit polls released by three major broadcasters Wednesday. Clockwise from top left: Jeong Geun-sik, Seoul superintendent candidate; Do Seong-hun, Incheon superintendent candidate; Kang Sam-yeong, Gangwon Province superintendent candidate; and Lim Jong-sik, North Gyeongsang Province superintendent candidate. [National Election Commission]
Candidates leading in the nationwide superintendent elections based on exit polls released by three major broadcasters Wednesday. Clockwise from top left: Jeong Geun-sik, Seoul superintendent candidate; Do Seong-hun, Incheon superintendent candidate; Kang Sam-yeong, Gangwon Province superintendent candidate; and Lim Jong-sik, North Gyeongsang Province superintendent candidate. [National Election Commission]

By Kim Yong-jae, The Herald Business

The unconventional campaign pledges of candidates leading in exit polls for Wednesday's nationwide superintendent elections are drawing attention. The front-runners distinguished themselves by putting practical, everyday-focused pledges at the center of their campaigns, directly addressing the financial and professional concerns of parents, teachers and students. Their proposals ranged from subsidizing commuting and licensing costs to offering concrete protections for teachers' rights.

In Seoul, Jeong Geun-sik — who led rival Jo Jeon-hyeok in exit polls — highlighted his "direct education welfare support" pledge. Its key provisions cover subsidies for field trip expenses for elementary and middle school students, public transit costs for students commuting to and from school, and fees for educational activity participation.

The pledge expands the scope of education welfare — long confined to free school meals and uniforms — into recurring living expenses such as monthly transit fares and field trip costs. Some critics, however, have raised concerns that competition over cash-equivalent benefits is blurring the line between education policy and welfare electioneering.

In North Gyeongsang Province, leading candidate Lim Jong-sik drew notice with a pledge to subsidize driver's license fees for 12th-grade students — a policy tailored to the region's large rural population. Lim has said he would prioritize students with long commutes and those attending vocational high schools. Education circles praised the pledge as a region-specific proposal for directly linking rural students' mobility with their job preparation, rather than focusing on conventional debates over basic academic skills or childcare.

In Gangwon Province, leading candidate Kang Sam-yeong also took the region's geography into account, announcing a "Baro30 Bus" pledge with a promise to ensure every student can reach school within 30 minutes. The plan centers on building a multimodal transit network — expanding free school bus routes and linking them with local circular buses, limited-license buses and 1,000-won taxis — to cut commute times. The initiative aims to use the education office's administrative capacity to overcome the physical constraints of Gangwon Province's mountainous terrain.

In Incheon, leading candidate Do Seong-hun proposed a "mental health physician" program for school staff alongside a "teacher healing retreat center." The pledges, which call for dedicated psychological counseling and mental health support systems, mark the first time a superintendent candidate has placed teachers — rather than students — at the center of a policy platform.

Unlike past superintendent campaigns that focused on student rights and student-centered welfare, the proposals were welcomed by teachers' organizations as a direct policy response to a wave of incidents involving infringements on teachers' professional rights. The pledges are seen as an example of a policy shift that extends the education office's mandate of protection beyond students to include teachers.

Meanwhile, the exit poll results showed a strong showing for progressive-leaning candidates. According to results released at 6 p.m. Wednesday, progressive candidates led in 11 of the 16 superintendent races. Conservative candidates led in three regions, while two were too close to call — Sejong, previously held by a progressive, and Jeju, previously held by a conservative — though progressive candidates topped the exit polls in both contests as well.

Before the election, progressives held 10 of 17 superintendent seats, with centrists and conservatives holding the remaining seven. This year, the administrative merger of Gwangju and South Jeolla Province reduced the number of progressive superintendent posts by one, but progressive-leaning candidates in Gyeonggi Province and Gangwon Province are expected to unseat incumbent conservative superintendents.


brunch@heraldcorp.com