Veteran Officials Present the Future... 'Future Seoul Morning Lecture' Revamped

From External Experts to Senior Officials:
Director Jang Kwon Delivers Lecture on 'Autonomous Driving'
Field Experience and Expertise Shape City Policy

Senior officials at the director and bureau chief level, each with over 20 years of experience in the Seoul Metropolitan Government, are forecasting changes in the city and presenting policy strategies to address them.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it had revamped its 'Future Seoul Morning Lecture,' now in its 120th session, and began the first lecture under the new format on the morning of October 7.

Launched in May 2021, the Future Seoul Morning Lecture has been held biweekly to share the city government's core values and future vision. Over the years, experts from Korea and abroad—including psychiatrist Oh Eun-young, economics YouTuber Syuka, American sociologist Sam Richards, and Professor Kong Kyungchul from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)—have delivered diverse perspectives on Seoul’s future and policy direction.

Jang Kwon, Director of Transportation, Seoul Metropolitan Government. Seoul Metropolitan Government

Through this revamp, the city has selected director and bureau chief-level officials, who have the deepest understanding of city affairs, to serve as lecturers. The objective is to diagnose changes and issues in each field and to present the direction Seoul should take—and the tasks that must be prepared for—in the next five and ten years, based on extensive hands-on experience and expertise.

The first lecture addresses the theme of 'autonomous driving.' Jang Kwon, Director of Transportation at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, delivered a lecture titled 'The Future of Autonomous Driving: What Should Seoul's Transportation Prepare For?' Having previously served as Director of Transportation Planning, Head of the Balanced Development Headquarters, and Head of the Climate and Environment Headquarters, Jang examined how the commercialization of autonomous driving could transform not only how citizens travel and the public transportation system, but also urban spaces such as roads and parking. He particularly emphasized, more than the autonomous driving technology itself, the tasks that major cities like Seoul—with high public transportation ridership and dense road networks—need to prepare for in response to the spread of autonomous driving technology and outlined future priorities.

Going forward, the Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to regularly host special lectures in which senior directors and bureau chiefs from key departments—directly responsible for areas critical to the city’s future, such as transportation—take the stage as lecturers. By sharing more than 20 years of accumulated field experience and expertise across the organization and collectively contemplating future vision and policy direction between departments, the city aims to boost interdepartmental collaboration and heighten the effectiveness of policy implementation.

Oh Se-hoon, Mayor of Seoul, stated, "For the past five years, the Future Seoul Morning Lecture has been enriched by the wisdom and insight of external experts. Now, it is time for city officials themselves to take the lead in envisioning and planning the future of Seoul," adding, "We will share the visions held by each directorate and work together to prepare for Seoul’s future."

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