Ruling Party 'Avoids' Free School Meals Issue While Opposition 'Raises' It

Free school meals, which heated up Gyeonggi Province last year, are expected to emerge as a campaign issue in the upcoming local elections, with local assembly candidates showing divergent responses to the matter.

According to a recent survey by a broadcaster on voting preferences for the June 2 local elections, 74.8% of respondents answered they would consider "candidates' and parties' stance on free school meals" when deciding their vote, indicating this will be a major issue in the upcoming election.

In the Suwon area, temperature and perspective differences between the ruling and opposition parties regarding free school meals or education-related pledges are becoming apparent.

Preliminary candidates from the Grand National Party are pledging to secure funding for improved educational conditions and budget support, as well as improvements to the educational environment.

Meanwhile, preliminary candidates from the opposition Democratic Party and other progressive parties are consistently highlighting the realization of educational welfare through free school meals.

In other words, Grand National Party candidates are emphasizing improved educational conditions and environment instead of directly mentioning free school meals, while the Democratic Party is moving to make free school meals a campaign issue.

Particularly significant is how Grand National Party members of the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly will overcome and respond to public backlash from consecutively cutting free school meal budgets from the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education from last year through March of this year during the upcoming local elections.

Among the 7th Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly members, a total of 37 members (including independent candidates) are running again in the upcoming local elections. In the Suwon area, incumbent provincial assemblymen are running in districts 2, 5, and 6 on the Grand National Party ticket, and districts 4 and 8 as independents.

Among these incumbent provincial assemblymen running again, some are taking the position that making free school meals itself a campaign issue is inappropriate.

One Grand National Party preliminary candidate from the Suwon area said, "I don't expect the free school meals issue to attract much attention or become a campaign issue during the election period," adding "We will not make direct mentions (about free school meals)."

He stated, "It is not desirable for campaign pledges to come from food-related issues," and added "We are instead focusing on manifestos with regional development, educational environment improvement projects within the electoral district, and concrete funding acquisition and implementation plans for these."