Lim Jong-sik Announces Humanities and Reading Education Pledge for AI Era

Emphasizes “Human-Centered AI Education” … Plans to Expand Reading Spaces and Writing Programs

Lim Jong-sik, a preliminary candidate for Superintendent of Education in North Gyeongsang Province, has unveiled a new education policy focused on strengthening humanities and reading education as a key pledge for the era of AI transformation. The proposal aims to go beyond technology-centered learning by fostering students’ literacy, critical thinking, and humanistic insight.

Lim stated, “In an era when AI can instantly generate enormous amounts of information, what students truly need is not the ability to memorize more facts, but the ability to question whether information is correct and to judge the essential values of life.” He added, “The real competitiveness in the AI age lies in humanistic capabilities that deeply understand people and the world.”

Previously, during his campaign declaration press conference on April 27, Lim presented “Human-Centered AI Transformation Education” and “Creating a Warmer Gyeongbuk Education that Supports Every Student’s Dream” as his core vision. The latest pledge provides concrete measures to cultivate students’ creativity and thinking abilities.

Key initiatives include expanding support for “Student Book Writing Clubs” and “Book-Writing Education Families,” encouraging students not only to read books but also to become creators who express their own ideas through writing.

Lim also pledged to operate “Bookmate Workshop,” a writing academy program in collaboration with locally published authors, to enhance students’ creativity and expressive skills.

Additional plans include launching the “Nobel Literature Learning Center with Literary Companions,” allowing students to communicate with the world through literature and develop broader aspirations. School-based humanities projects will also be supported so students can experience humanities connected to everyday life both inside and outside the classroom.

Lim further proposed transforming schools and public libraries into regional “humanities hubs” and expanding the role of existing character and humanities education centers. His vision includes building a “Gyeongbuk-style humanities ecosystem” in which students, parents, and local community members can all share and learn humanistic values in their daily lives.

As part of the initiative, the campaign will actively support the creation of “Fingertip Bookstores,” small reading spaces set up in unused school areas such as hallways and home-base lounges. The goal is to create an environment where students can naturally encounter books in their daily routines, thereby improving literacy and critical thinking skills.

Lim emphasized, “What helps children grow over the long term is not the amount of knowledge they possess, but the power to think and the warmth of humanity.” He added, “Human-centered AI transformation education is not merely about teaching technology, but about adding humanity to AI and strengthening students’ inner character through reading and humanities education.”

He concluded, “Building upon the achievements of the past eight years and the strength of 47 years of experience in Gyeongbuk education, I will ensure that every student in Gyeongbuk grows into a person who reads deeply, thinks wisely, and opens the future with a warm heart.”