Seongbuk District Mayor Lee Seungro Elected Representative of Democratic Party's National Association of Local Government Heads

After Heading the Seoul District Mayors' Association, Lee Takes Helm of National Body

Seongbuk District in Seoul announced on October 7 that District Mayor Lee Seungro had been elected representative of the Democratic Party of Korea's National Association of Local Government Heads. The association is a body comprising mayors and heads of counties and districts affiliated with the Democratic Party of Korea. It coordinates policy cooperation among local governments and conveys regional issues to the party's central leadership.

Lee Seung-ro, mayor of Seongbuk District. Photo provided by Seongbuk District.

Lee was appointed as a special adviser on local autonomy to the Democratic Party chair in January this year. Since July, he has served as chair of the Seoul District Mayors' Association for the ninth popularly elected term, coordinating shared issues among the city's 25 districts. He also serves as a co-chair of the Korea Mayors, Governors and District Mayors Association. He previously served as a member of the Seongbuk District Council and Seoul Metropolitan Council, as well as secretary-general of the Democratic Party of Korea's Seoul Metropolitan City chapter and deputy secretary-general of the party's central headquarters.

In the 2026 assessment of pledge implementation and information disclosure by local government heads elected in the eighth nationwide local elections, Seongbuk District received an SA rating, the highest grade, for the fourth consecutive year.

Lee plans to communicate regularly with local government heads nationwide and share exemplary policies. He also plans to gather opinions on institutional and financial issues that individual local governments find difficult to resolve, as well as on local autonomy and decentralization and balanced regional development, and discuss them with the party's central leadership.

"Local autonomy is where democracy operates closest to residents' lives," Lee said. "We will share good policies that have delivered results in each region, and work together to find solutions to problems that are difficult for any one region to resolve on its own." He added, "Drawing on my experience meeting residents in Seongbuk and seeking answers on the ground, I will faithfully serve as a bridge between local governments and the party's central leadership."

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