Ideological divides and political accusations eclipsed policy debate in the first and only televised discussion in the by-election for Seoul education chief Thursday.

Five candidates led by conservative former Education Minister Moon Yong-lin and former teachers’ union chief Lee Soo-ho sparred over a range of issues including private education costs, the public education system and students’ and teachers’ rights.

The three others are law professor Lee Sang-myun, Seoul education bureaucrat Nam Seung-hee and former high school teacher Choi Myung-bok.

The debate was organized by the city election commission to discuss four main issues: public school reform, diversification in high-school education, the rights of students and teachers, and after-school education.

Scathing verbal attacks raged over the candidates’ different political backgrounds. Moon first fired at Lee, the former chief of the Korea Teachers and Education Workers’ Union, blaming the group’s political activities for obstructing public education.

“The biggest obstacle to revitalizing public education was the unionized teachers. How do you address their involvement in political activities?” Moon told Lee.

He also billed Lee a “pro-North Korea leftist,” citing his writing on the now-defunct Democratic Labor Party.

Moon was accused of forming coalitions with politicians in order to boost his chance of winning the election.

Moon recently served as a special adviser to Park Geun-hye, the presidential candidate from the conservative ruling Saenuri Party.

“Seoul’s education chief should not directly be involved with political parties,” said Choi.

During the debate on public education, Moon indicated he would scrap tests for first-year middle-school students to allow them to focus on planning for their careers.

But the former SNU professor Lee noted that it would “only cause a disruption” in students’ learning.

Meanwhile, the progressive candidate Lee promised to improve school meal offerings, including the expansion of free school meals for students from lower-income families.

The by-election for the superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education is to be held simultaneously with the Dec. 19 presidential election.

By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heralcorp.com)