"Nominate This Person for Deputy Mayor of Gwangju-Jeonnam Special City"... Around 400 Citizen Recommendations Received

Nation's First Citizen Participatory Personnel System... Final Appointment Next Month

Verification Committee, Citizen Jury, Personnel Committee, Mayor's Nomination, and City Council Hearing

It has been estimated that there were approximately 400 recommendations for candidates under the “Deputy Mayor Citizen Nomination System” newly introduced by Gwangju-Jeonnam Integrated Special City, the first in the nation to do so.

The citizen nomination system is a participatory personnel policy in which citizens directly recommend individuals they see as suitable for the position of deputy mayor. The Integrated Special City accepted recommendations both online and offline over six days, concluding the application process on July 15, 2026, amid considerable public interest.

The Integrated Special City will convene a verification committee to review the recommended candidates, evaluating their qualifications and plans for performing the required duties, before selecting a shortlist of five times the number of available positions. Afterward, a jury of citizen panelists will conduct on-site evaluations, and the results of these assessments will be combined with those of an online vote, each accounting for 50%, to select a final shortlist of three times the number of positions in each field.

Pan-nam Gwangju Integrated Special City Namak Government Complex Exterior View

During the on-site evaluation by the citizen panel, candidates will present their plans for performing the duties of deputy mayor and participate in a Q&A session. To allow members of the online voting group to observe the evaluation process, a live broadcast on YouTube is also planned.

Following verification by the personnel committee, the special mayor will nominate the final candidate, who will then be appointed as deputy mayor in August after a personnel hearing by the city council. Gwangju-Jeonnam Integrated Special City plans to select the most qualified person who possesses professionalism, public-mindedness, and the trust of its citizens.

Kang Jongcheol, head of the Autonomous Administration Headquarters for Gwangju-Jeonnam Integrated Special City, said, "The citizen nomination system marks the beginning of citizen sovereignty administration, where the public directly participates in city governance," adding, "We will appoint a deputy mayor who garners public support through a fair and transparent verification process."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.