Yoo Eun-hye, a former Minister of Education and the Democratic Party of Korea's candidate for Gyeonggi superintendent of education, and Ahn Min-seok, a former lawmaker, are in a head-on clash over how to unify candidates from the progressive camp.
The progressive camp is pursuing a single candidacy through the Gyeonggi Education Innovation Alliance (Innovation Alliance) for promoting a unified candidate for the Gyeonggi Democratic-Progressive superintendent of education. To that end, a method has been proposed that combines a members' vote, with the Innovation Alliance serving as the electoral college, and the results of a general public opinion poll.
Former lawmaker Ahn Min-seok says groups included in the Innovation Alliance are systematically recruiting an electoral college for candidate Yoo and is pushing for a "100% opinion poll" method. Candidate Yoo says unification should proceed using the previously agreed "members' vote + opinion poll" method.
Former Minister Yoo Eun-hye recently brought on Kim Yong, a former deputy head of the Institute for Democracy, as part of a mentor group. In the past, President Lee Jae-myung said of Kim, "a person like my alter ego" and a "close aide." Yoo also recruited actor Lee Won-jong as head of the supporters' association. Lee served as a vice chair of the K-Culture Power Committee in Lee Jae-myung's presidential campaign and was recently mentioned as a candidate for head of the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), making him a "pro-Lee actor."
Former lawmaker Ahn Min-seok was regarded as pro-Lee during what was called the "slaughter of the non-Lee faction" ahead of the 2024 general election but ultimately did not win a nomination. As a result, Ahn ended a five-term career in the National Assembly.
Meanwhile, in a telephone interview (CATI) poll conducted by JoWon C&I and Research & Research for Pressian over two days on the 16th–17th, of 1,011 voters aged 18 or older residing in Gyeonggi Province, support for Gyeonggi superintendent showed progressive camp candidate Yoo Eun-hye at 16.2%, conservative camp incumbent Superintendent Yim Tae-hee at 15.1%, and progressive camp candidate Ahn Min-seok at 14.9%. Among Democratic Party supporters, Ahn had 23.9%, Yoo 19.1%, and Superintendent Yim 10.9%.
This survey was a telephone interview (CATI) poll (100% mobile virtual numbers, proportional quota random sampling by gender, age group, and region) and had a response rate of 10.0%. The margin of sampling error is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. For details, refer to the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.