Seungro Lee, Mayor of Seongbuk District and Chair of District Mayors' Council: "The Era of Asking is Over... 25 Districts Unite to Negotiate with Seoul City"

Delegating Some City Authority to Districts for Faster Redevelopment
Improving the Practice of Losing Key Technical Talent
"Ensuring 100% of Development Profits Return to Residents"

The face of Seungro Lee, Mayor of Seongbuk District in Seoul, was tanned. This is because he spends all day, from early morning to evening, visiting sites even during the heat wave. Although the job of mayor is often called an “extreme occupation,” he said, “The greatest driving force is the sense of fulfillment that comes from meeting residents directly.”

As the first three-term mayor of Seongbuk District, he was elected last month as the first Chairperson of the Seoul Metropolitan Council of District Mayors in its 9th term. Throughout the interview, Mayor Lee emphasized ‘prior persuasion’ and ‘institutional cooperation.’ While he pointed out and criticized the reality of local autonomy where even changing the location of a park within an apartment complex requires Seoul City’s approval, he stressed that the solution ultimately lies in dialogue and rational argument.

On August 11, we met with Mayor Seungro Lee, who now represents all 25 autonomous districts as the point of contact for negotiations with Seoul City and the central government, to hear about his vision for operating the council and his plans for Seongbuk district administration. The following is a Q&A.

Seungro Lee, Mayor of Seongbuk District, is explaining the key initiatives of the 9th local government term in an interview with The Asia Business Daily. Provided by Seongbuk District.

-How do you plan to lead the Council of District Mayors?

▲Until now, even when the Council put forth an agenda item, if Seoul City did not accept it, it often remained as just a suggestion. From now on, we will bring to the discussion table with the Seoul Mayor mainly those joint agenda items that have secured the prior understanding and agreement of at least two-thirds of the 25 district mayors (at least 17 districts). The aim is to reduce inefficiency and strengthen our negotiating power by forming a united front.

-Are there any urgent joint tasks facing the autonomous districts?

▲The first is expanding the authority of urban maintenance projects. Currently, autonomous districts have the right to make minor modifications to maintenance plans only within a margin of 10%, but in reality, only about 5% is delegated. We need to increase this to more than 20% and completely delegate the licensing authority of small complexes under 500 households to district mayors. Just reducing inefficient procedures could shorten project periods by more than two years. We will also urge the activation of batch reviews, where various reviews—such as transportation and environmental—are handled at once.

-You mentioned there are additional reasons for bottlenecks in redevelopment and reconstruction at the site level.

▲There are personnel issues with technical public officials working in each district office. The authority for the promotion and other personnel matters of technical public officials lies with Seoul City. As promotion opportunities for those coordinating redevelopment/reconstruction at the field level are concentrated within Seoul City, talented individuals who have accumulated experience in autonomous districts move to the city for promotion.

We are considering ensuring a 5:5 or 6:4 promotion ratio, or forming the personnel committee equally between autonomous districts and Seoul City. Yoo Bohwa, Mayor of Seongdong-gu and formerly a Director General of Seoul City’s Bureau of General Affairs, has been appointed as Vice-Chair and head of the Personnel Innovation Task Force, and we have begun outlining this plan.

-Are there other proposals?

▲The issue of local currency is also significant. Seongbuk District issues the largest annual amount in Seoul, about KRW 100 billion, and bears a financial loss of about KRW 11 billion solely with district finances due to shared commission and discount rates. Since the effect on revitalizing neighborhood economies is clear, I will continue to propose the resumption of budget matching by Seoul City.

-If Seoul City does not accept?

▲We will seek solidarity through multiple channels, including the Seoul Metropolitan Council, National Assembly, and political parties, and if necessary, even push for legislative revisions. We will establish a strong logical basis through expert studies and forums funded by the Council’s budget and then persuade the metropolitan government and the legislature.

Lee Seungro, Mayor of Seongbuk District (second from the right), attended a meeting on the 12th as the President of the Seoul Association of District Mayors to discuss joint issues of the 9th local government. Provided by Seongbuk District.

-You became the first three-term mayor of Seongbuk District. What is the top priority for the 9th term?

▲Right now, Seongbuk is undergoing a period of major transformation, with 138 redevelopment and reconstruction projects—the largest number nationwide. I have acutely felt from field experience that in the past, hundreds of billions of won in budget were poured into certain districts in the name of urban regeneration, but it failed to improve residents’ quality of life.

Therefore, we have created a system where the development profits from maintenance projects are thoroughly collected as infrastructure in kind and given back 100% to residents. Development profits in Seongbuk District, including areas like Jangwi Newtown, are estimated at around KRW 1.5 trillion. With a weak financial independence ratio of just 18-19%, the large-scale development enables us to build an integrated welfare town, a 3,500-pyeong children’s welfare center, a culture and arts creation center, and a library.

-Residents are very interested in transportation issues and welfare.

▲Public transportation is also welfare. Although the Gangbuk Line failed to pass the preliminary economic feasibility study, we will communicate with Seoul City and the National Assembly armed with the 280,000 signatures of local residents to commence construction during this term.

Also, Seongbuk’s greatest asset is the volunteer network of 105,000 people—one in four district residents. With hubs such as the Seongbuk Haedream Center and Seongbuk Welfare Foundation, we will further reinforce the community where neighbors look after neighbors. We will also expand everyday cultural infrastructure such as the Seokgwan-dong education zone, Jeongneung Complex Culture & Sports Center, and Seongbukcheon Riverside Outdoor Library.

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