The incumbent superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education has been reelected to the top post.

Kong Jeong-taek won a total of some 499-thousand votes, or about 40 percent of votes cast, during the first direct election of Seoul’s top education administrator on Wednesday. Kong’s leading rival, Jou Kyong-bok, came in second with some 477-thousand votes.

With Kong’s reelection, policies to boost school competitiveness in the capital area are likely to gain steam.

Wednesday’s election posted a voter turnout of 15-point-four percent, the lowest turnout for the election of a superintendent to be recorded since last year’s election in Busan.