What Seoul superintendent hopefuls promise migrant-background students
2026.06.01 10:42
Pledges include AI language tools, trilingual schools and expanded IB programs
| Portraits of the eight Seoul education superintendent candidates. Top row, from left: Lee Hak-in, Jung Geun-sik, Han Man-jung and Hong Jae-nam. Bottom row, from left: Kim Young-bae, Ryu Sun-o, Yoon Ho-sang and Cho Chun-hyuk. (Yonhap) |
Eight candidates are vying to lead the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education in the June 3 elections. Among the challenges the winner will have to grapple with is how schools should respond to globalization and serve a growing diverse student body.
More than 38,000 foreign residents are eligible to vote in Seoul, and candidates have outlined policies to strengthen language skills, expand international programs and support migrant and multicultural students.
The Korea Herald asked all eight candidates about their plans. Below are their major pledges for making Seoul’s education system more globally oriented.
Jung Geun-sik
| Liberal Seoul education superintendent candidate Jung Geun-sik speaks to reporters at his campaign office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on May 7. (Yonhap) |
Jung Geun-sik pledged to strengthen students’ English and foreign-language skills by using artificial intelligence to support language learning.
He also said he would continue expanding the International Baccalaureate program across schools in Seoul, improving its quality and eventually developing Seoul’s own version of the IB, the Korean Baccalaureate.
Jung pledged to increase international exchanges by expanding Seoul’s International Joint Classes, a language exchange program that connects students in Seoul with students overseas.
For students from migrant backgrounds, Jung said he would operate trilingual schools using Korean, English and Mandarin Chinese in districts with high concentrations of such students.
He also pledged to open a second Seoul Migrant-Background Student Support Center in northern Seoul.
Jung said he would introduce translation and interpretation support services for migrant-background students, develop Korean language textbooks customized to each region of Seoul, provide additional support for schools in areas with large migrant-background populations and expand Korean preparatory schools.
He is a former sociology professor at Seoul National University and the incumbent Seoul education superintendent seeking a second term.
Cho Jun-hyuk
| Conservative Seoul education superintendent candidate Cho Jun-hyuk speaks at a rally in Jung-gu, Seoul, on May 7. (Yonhap) |
Cho Jun-hyuk argued that language barriers among migrant-background students can disrupt classroom learning and harm others’ rights.
“Therefore, helping these students adapt to the classroom more quickly is not reverse discrimination, but an investment for all students to protect a peaceful learning environment for the entire classroom.”
Cho would create mentorship programs linking Korean and migrant-background parents — particularly mothers who have raised children in Korea — with newcomers, and a separate scheme pairing university students from migrant backgrounds with younger peers to help them adjust to school life.
He also proposed AI-based real-time translation to improve communication among students, teachers and parents. He would create multicultural hub centers linking schools with universities, museums and libraries as one-stop resources for language support, cultural orientation, career planning and psychological counseling and expand online education programs to increase access and continuity.
Cho is a former economics professor at Kwangwoon University and a former lawmaker.
Yoon Ho-sang
| Conservative Seoul education superintendent candidate Yoon Ho-sang speaks to reporters in Seocho-gu, Seoul, Sunday. (Yoon Ho-sang's campaign office) |
Yoon named AI literacy a “weapon of survival” in the age of globalization, pledging to nurture 750,000 students capable of effectively using AI.
He said he would combine the strengths of Korea’s public education with digital-based education innovation to brand Seoul education as a “global standard.”
For students from migrant backgrounds, Yoon said he would expand Korean-language education and implement a “Zero School Violence” policy to protect such students from bullying.
He also pledged to create public tutoring and mentoring systems to reduce the financial burden on migrant-background families and help students improve academically.
Yoon said support for students from multicultural backgrounds was a key part of his campaign.
“I have consistently included stronger support and consideration for minorities, vulnerable groups and multicultural families in my 10 major policy pledges and field reform tasks,” Yoon told The Korea Herald.
Yoon once worked as a middle school teacher and is currently a professor at Hanyang University. He ran for Seoul education superintendent in 2022.
Han Man-jung
| Liberal Seoul education superintendent candidate Han Man-jung speaks to reporters during a press conference in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on May 26. (Yonhap) |
Han Man-jung says Seoul’s internationalization should in turn make public schools more inclusive and globally connected, not just serve an elite few fluent in English.
“The internationalization of Seoul education is not about educating only a few students who are fluent in English,” Han told The Korea Herald. “It is about building a public education system where students from diverse backgrounds learn together and connect with the world.”
He pledged comprehensive support for students from migrant backgrounds, including pre-enrollment assessments, intensive Korean-language support, supplementary courses linked to the school curriculum, emotional and psychological counseling and career counseling.
Han said he would create a support system under each district education office to provide more coordinated assistance and strengthen customized support based on each student’s needs.
He also pledged to improve communication with foreign parents by providing key school guides and notices in multiple languages.
Han spent more than 20 years in the field as a middle school teacher. He later worked in the policy department of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, eventually serving as secretary to the superintendent.
Lee Hak-in
| Liberal Seoul education superintendent candidate Lee Hak-in speaks to reporters in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on May 26. (Yonhap) |
Lee Hak-in pledged to expand overseas teacher dispatch programs, assigning teachers who return from overseas postings to “welcome classes” and Korean-language-integrated curriculum programs to support students from migrant backgrounds.
The "welcome classes" would offer an intensive bridge curriculum for refugees, migrants and students who enter Korea midway through their schooling.
Lee also pledged to launch online classes with partner countries, expand overseas sister-school programs to public schools, and support inter-school summer programs.
For students from migrant backgrounds, he proposed two teachers in the classroom — one teaching the target subject, while the other teaches Korean vocabulary related to that subject.
Lee said he would issue customized academic evaluations for migrant-background students by comparing their previous schooling in their country of origin to Korea’s curriculum to identify gaps in learning.
For low-income migrant-background families, Lee pledged to build an “all-in-one” after-school safety net using local multicultural family support centers to provide multilingual school notices, one-on-one help with Korean-language homework and basic academic skills, dinner and psychological counseling.
Lee is an associate professor at Shinhan University.
Hong Jae-nam
| Liberal Seoul education superintendent candidate Hong Jae-nam speaks to reporters in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on May 26. (Yonhap) |
Hong Jae-nam said schools should move from forced assimilation to democratic citizenship education that promotes coexistence and heals conflict.
“I will shift the paradigm away from paternalistic assimilationism that seeks to ‘Koreanize’ students, and move toward democratic citizenship education for coexistence that heals hatred and conflict,” Hong said.
She pledged to incorporate “multicultural sensitivity classes” into the formal school curriculum, making them mandatory for all students and school staff, focusing on preventing racial discrimination and responding to hate speech while developing critical thinking through discussion-based guidelines.
Hong said she would seek to recruit talented migrants in local communities, as well as retired teachers, to work as bilingual co-instructors in regular subject classes to allow Korean students to learn the languages and cultures of their classmates.
She said this would help spread a “two-way intercultural school” model, where both Korean and migrant-background students learn from one another.
Hong also pledged to enact an ordinance guaranteeing the right of every child in Seoul, including children of people who are in Korea illegally, to receive education without administrative or status-related restrictions.
Hong is a former middle school principal and has worked as the chief of education support at the Seoul Nambu District Office of Education.
Ryu Sun-o and Kim Young-bae
| From left: Kim Young-bae and Ryu Sun-o (Yonhap) |
Ryu Sun-o and Kim Young-bae did not respond to The Korea Herald’s inquiries about their pledges as of press time.
Ryu's official campaign pledge documents list more support for students with migrant backgrounds but do not specify what kind of support would be provided.
Kim’s campaign pledges do not mention educational internationalization or support for students from migrant backgrounds.
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