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 the progressive camp's candidates.
The progressive camp is pursuing a single candidacy through the Gyeonggi Education Innovation Alliance (Innovation Alliance) for "unifying candidates 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 calling for a "100% opinion poll" method. Candidate Yoo says unification should proceed as previously agreed, using the "members' vote + opinion poll" method.
Former Minister Yoo Eun-hye recently brought on Kim Yong, a former deputy head of the Democratic Research Institute, as part of a mentor group. In the past, President Lee Jae-myung referred to Kim as "a person like my 'alter ego'" and a "close aide." Yoo also recruited actor Lee Won-jong as chair of the supporters' association. Lee served as vice chair of the K-Culture Powerhouse Committee in Lee Jae-myung's presidential campaign and was recently mentioned as a candidate for president of the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), making him a "pro-Lee actor."
Former lawmaker Ahn Min-seok was seen as pro-Lee as the so-called "mass purge of non-Lee figures" unfolded ahead of the 2024 general election, but he ultimately did not receive a nomination. As a result, he ended his service in the National Assembly after five terms.
Meanwhile, in a telephone interview (CATI) poll conducted by JoWON C&I and Research & Research over two days on the 16th–17th at the request of Pressian, of 1,011 voters aged 18 or older residing in Gyeonggi Province, support in the Gyeonggi superintendent race was 16.2% for progressive camp candidate former Minister Yoo Eun-hye, 15.1% for conservative camp incumbent Superintendent Yim Tae-hee, and 14.9% for progressive camp former lawmaker Ahn Min-seok. Among Democratic Party supporters, former lawmaker Ahn was at 23.9%, former Minister Yoo at 19.1%, and Superintendent Yim at 10.9%.
This survey was a telephone interview (CATI) poll (100% mobile phone virtual numbers, random sampling with proportional allocation by gender, age group, and region) and recorded a response rate of 10.0%. The margin of error is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. For details, refer to the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.