The 33rd graduating class of Suncheon High School in South Jeolla Province — the class of 1984 — has drawn widespread attention after three of its alumni were elected as local government heads in the June 3 local elections.
It is rare for a single graduating class to produce three district-level mayors simultaneously, and the achievement has renewed interest in the enduring strength of Suncheon High's 33rd cohort.
Suncheon High has long been regarded as one of the premier high schools outside the capital, producing talent across law, public administration, politics and government over many decades.
The 33rd class in particular made its mark in politics and public administration through this round of local elections.
Bucheon Mayor Cho Yong-ik is a Suncheon native who graduated from Suncheon High and Sungkyunkwan University's law department before passing the 31st bar examination. He went on to practice law and serve as an administrative official in the presidential secretariat before entering politics. He won reelection to a second term — the ninth round of popular mayoral elections — and will continue leading Bucheon, one of the Greater Seoul area's major cities.
Gwangyang Mayor Park Seong-hyeon is a Gwangyang native who graduated from Korea Maritime and Ocean University and later served as president of Mokpo National Maritime University and chief executive of the Yeosu Gwangyang Port Authority. Running as an independent, he secured reelection for a second consecutive term, again demonstrating his strong local base and competitiveness.
Seongdong-gu Mayor Yu Bo-hwa is a native of Goheung who graduated from Suncheon High and began his public-service career as a Grade 9 civil servant at the Military Manpower Administration. He built his administrative experience in Gangnam-gu and in the Seoul Metropolitan Government's planning and personnel divisions, later serving as head of the autonomous administration division under then-Mayor Park Won-soon before being promoted to Grade 3 and appointed policy planning officer. He subsequently served as deputy mayor of Seongdong-gu, working alongside former district mayor Jeong Won-o, before winning election as Seongdong-gu mayor — a success story for an administrator who rose through the ranks without passing the civil service higher examination.
The accomplishments of the 33rd class do not end there.
Song Gyeong-won, also a Goheung native and a member of the same cohort, served as director of youth policy coordination at the Office for Government Policy Coordination. He graduated from Suncheon High and Seoul National University's law school before entering public service through the 37th administrative civil service examination, spending more than 30 years on policy coordination work at the office. Since completing his government career recently, he has drawn attention in political circles as he prepares a run in the next general election.
Suncheon High has long been considered a top regional school, but the 33rd class in particular has distinguished itself in law, administration and politics to a degree that some say earns it the title of a "golden cohort."
Having produced three local government heads — the mayors of Bucheon and Gwangyang and the Seongdong-gu mayor — from a single school and a single graduating class, while also counting a senior official who held a key post in the central government, the 33rd class of Suncheon High is expected to remain a subject of attention for its network and collective capacity for years to come.
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