Min Hyungbae: "Citizens' Will Fully Reflected"... Baek Seungjoo and Yoon Nansil Nominated as Political Deputy Mayors (Comprehensive)

Ranked First in Each Field by Citizen Jury and Online Vote
Both Nominees Previously Served on Mayor Min's Transition Committee
Appointments to Be Finalized After City Council Hearings Within This Month

Baek Seungjoo, former Deputy Director of the Institute for Democracy, and Yoon Nansil, former Institutional Reform Secretary to the President, have been nominated as the first locally appointed political deputy mayors of Jeonnam Gwangju Metropolitan City. Both nominees actively participated in Mayor Min Hyungbae’s transition committee, and each ranked first in their respective fields according to the evaluation by the citizen jury and in the online vote.

On the morning of August 6, at the Gwangju government building, Mayor Min held a press briefing and announced the nominations: former Deputy Director Baek will be the candidate for deputy mayor in the fields of industry, employment, economy, labor, and advanced strategic industries; former Secretary Yoon will be nominated as deputy mayor for citizen sovereignty, youth population policy, talent development, health and welfare, and gender equality.

On the morning of the 6th, Min Hyung-bae, former Mayor of Jeonnam Gwangju Integrated Metropolitan City, met with reporters at the Gwangju Government Complex to explain the background of the appointment of the candidate for Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs. Photo by Song Bohyun

This nomination was carried out under a citizen nomination system, in which citizens participate in the recommendation and vetting of candidates. On the 1st, a citizen jury review was held, and on the 2nd, an online vote took place with four candidates in the industry sector and five candidates in the citizen sovereignty sector. The special city combined the results of both evaluations to rank candidates from first to third in each sector, and then submitted the top three candidates in each area to Mayor Min. Mayor Min nominated the first-place winner from each sector as deputy mayor.

Mayor Min stated, "We reflected the will of the citizens as much as possible, and determined that both candidates possess the necessary competencies for the deputy mayor position. As these selections were made by the citizens, there was no need for special political considerations."

Candidate Baek is a native of Jangseong, Jeollanam-do, and has served as Director General for Fiscal Innovation and as Director General for Planning and Coordination at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, as Deputy Director of the Asian Development Bank Institute, and as Deputy Director of the Institute for Democracy. He is currently a distinguished professor at Suncheon National University. He also served as vice chair of the Jeonnam Gwangju Great Transformation Planning Committee, which was equivalent to Mayor Min’s transition committee.

Mayor Min explained that candidate Baek possesses experience in central government dealing with industrial and fiscal policy, as well as collaborative capabilities across the public and private sectors, making him the right fit to lead the special city’s growth strategy and employment policy.

Candidate Yoon is originally from Gangjin, Jeollanam-do, and has served as a member of the 4th Gwangju City Council, as Institutional Reform Secretary in the presidential secretariat during the Moon Jae-in administration, and as Chair of the Innovation and Autonomy Committee of the Presidential Committee on Autonomy and Decentralization. She also served as chair of the Citizen Sovereignty Committee in the Jeonnam Gwangju Great Transformation Planning Committee.

Mayor Min noted that candidate Yoon has demonstrated experience in facilitating social consensus and coordinating various interests through communication with citizens, making her the suitable candidate to oversee citizen sovereignty, welfare, and gender equality policies.

Gwangju Metropolitan City plans to request personnel hearings for both nominated deputy mayors from the city council. Appointments will be made within the month, following the hearing process.

The special city will appoint a total of four deputy mayors: two locally appointed political deputy mayors and two government-appointed administrative deputy mayors. Administrative deputy mayors are appointed by the President following the mayor’s recommendation. Last month, the city council amended the ordinance to include administrative deputy mayors in the personnel hearing requirement as well. However, hearings can only be convened upon the mayor’s request.

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