Who Will Be Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs in Jeonnam-Gwangju? Citizen Evaluation Begins

First Public Vetting of “Citizen-Recruited Officials” Proposed by Min Hyungbae
Open Evaluation of Candidates by Field

The Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City has, for the first time since its launch one month ago, begun the selection process for its “Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs chosen by citizens.” The process involves narrowing down candidates through a review by a citizen jury and an online vote, after which the special city mayor will make the final nomination.

According to the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City on August 1, the selection proceeds along two tracks. One deputy mayor for political affairs will be chosen each from the fields of industry, jobs, economy, labor, and high-tech key industries, and from citizenship, youth and population policy, health and welfare, and gender equality.

Signboard changed at Gwangju Office of Jeonnam Gwangju Integrated Special City Government. Yonhap News

In the industrial category, Jinmyung Kim, visiting professor at Seoul National University of Science and Technology; Myunghwan Na, dean of the College of AI Convergence at Chonnam National University; Seungjoo Baek, former deputy director of the Asian Development Bank Institute; and Hyungsik Choi, former governor of Damyang County, are competing. Former Democratic Party lawmaker Byunghoon Lee, who had been an initial candidate, withdrew from the race citing family reasons.

In the civic category, Hyang Park, former director of public health policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare; Hyunju Park, professor at Chosun University; Miran Oh, CEO of Gwangju Women's Family Foundation; Nansil Yoon, chair of the Innovation and Autonomy Committee at the Era of Local Governance Commission; and Eunji Chae, former vice chairperson of Gwangju Metropolitan Council, are among the candidates.

The candidates will appear before the citizen jury on the afternoon of August 1 at the International Conference Center of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology. They will be evaluated by citizens through policy presentations and Q&A sessions, and the screening process will be broadcast live on the “JeonnamGwangju TV” YouTube channel.

The evaluations do not end there. On August 2, a total of 1,013 citizens representing 27 cities, districts, and counties—recommended in proportion to their populations—will participate in online voting. The special city government will reflect the results from both evaluations to select three finalists in each field, recommending them to the special mayor.

The special mayor will designate one final candidate per category from among those recommended, notify the city council, and, following a confirmation hearing, is scheduled to make the appointment within August.

This selection process began with citizen nominations between July 10 and 15. Of the 398 individuals who qualified as candidates, 40 applied, and after a review by the verification committee, 10 finalists were selected.

According to the Special Act for Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City, there are two nationally appointed and two locally appointed deputy mayors for political affairs. The president appoints those serving at the national level, while the special city mayor appoints those at the local level.

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