Yu Si-min Pledges to Dismantle Gyeonggi Province Education Bureau

Yu Si-min, Gyeonggi Province gubernatorial candidate for the Civically Participated Party, announced on the 15th, coinciding with Teachers' Day, that he will abolish the Education Bureau of Gyeonggi Province and return educational leadership to the provincial education office and teachers.

On that day, candidate Yu asserted that "the establishment of an Education Bureau in Gyeonggi Province was created with the intention of Governor Kim Moon-soo indirectly expressing his dissatisfaction with Superintendent of Education Kim Sang-gon's education policies and restricting the authority of the Gyeonggi Province Office of Education."

He stated, "Educational autonomy is a system introduced in accordance with the constitutional spirit that education must guarantee professionalism, political neutrality, and autonomy," and emphasized that "the province should be responsible for administrative and financial support for education, while the Gyeonggi Province Office of Education should naturally lead the inherent mission of education."

Accordingly, candidate Yu publicly pledged, "If I become governor, I will dismantle the Education Bureau and return educational leadership back to teachers."

On that day, candidate Yu visited the Democratic Party Gyeonggi Province headquarters located in Jangan-gu, Suwon, and held a meeting with Park Ki-choon, chairman of the Democratic Party Gyeonggi Province, and other party officials.

At the meeting, Party Chairman Park said, "After the unification of candidates Kim Jin-pyo and Yu Si-min, overall candidate approval ratings increased by 5 to 10 percent."

In response, candidate Yu said, "The figure Kim Jin-pyo showed for 10 minutes at the unification primary announcement venue on the 13th brought millions of votes in the Seoul metropolitan area," and stated, "I will make good use of candidate Kim Jin-pyo's sacrifice."

Regarding the integration of the Democratic Party and Civically Participated Party that candidate Kim Jin-pyo appealed for on the 13th, Yu said, "Let's first achieve integration in the hearts of voters, including traditional opposition party supporters and supporters from emerging opposition forces."

Meanwhile, candidate Yu spent his weekend schedule focused on Suwon, visiting the Lotus Lantern Festival commemoration event held at the plaza in front of Hwaseong Haenggung on the 15th, and visiting the alumni sports events of Suseong High School and Yusin High School on the 16th.