Among Seoul city directors, seven officials including Gwangjin-gu's Yoon Jong-jang, Jungnang-gu's Yeo Jang-kwon, Dobong-gu's Kim Jae-yong, Mapo-gu's Park Beom, Gangseo-gu's Jeong Heon-jae, Yeongdeungpo-gu's Kim Young-hwan, and Gangdong-gu's Jeong Hwan-jung were unusually appointed directly as deputy district heads after domestic and overseas training without being assigned to the main office.
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] “Mayor Park Won-soon is to be thanked...”
This was said by a deputy district mayor of a district office in Seoul. This deputy district mayor was appointed as deputy district mayor this year after completing a one-year training program last year.
Usually, after attending domestic or National Assembly training, one prepares mentally to work hard(?) at the Seoul City Hall headquarters.
However, in this personnel appointment, six people who completed domestic and overseas training were appointed as deputy district mayors.
They are Deputy District Mayors Yeo Jang-gwon of Jungnang-gu, Kim Jae-yong of Dobong-gu, Park Beom of Mapo-gu, Jeong Heon-jae of Gangseo-gu, Kim Young-hwan of Yeongdeungpo-gu, and Jeong Hwan-jung of Gangdong-gu.
In addition, Yoon Jong-jang, Deputy District Mayor of Gwangjin-gu, after training in the United States and serving as the administrative director at Seoul City University for 10 months, transferred back, effectively having completed overseas training as well.
It is unusual that as many as seven high-ranking officials of Seoul City at levels 2 to 3 were appointed directly as frontline deputy district mayors after training.
One deputy district mayor of a local district said, “It is rare for seven people to be appointed as deputy district mayors immediately after training as in this personnel appointment,” and added, “Anyway, these deputy district mayors are undoubtedly lucky.”
They usually take a one-year training program at domestic training institutions or foreign universities to recharge, and when returning to their duties, it is common to be assigned to difficult departments at the headquarters.
However, Mayor Park Won-soon appointed them directly as deputy district mayors this time, while calling Dobong-gu Deputy District Mayor Lee Dae-hyun, Mapo-gu Deputy District Mayor Jeong Sang-taek, and Yeongdeungpo-gu Deputy District Mayor Lee Young-gi back to the headquarters.
In fact, if a deputy district mayor faithfully follows the will of a district mayor, it is undoubtedly a happy position receiving respect from about 1,200 to 1,500 employees.
Because of this, for those at level 3 or above in Seoul City, going out as a district or deputy district mayor is sometimes a dream.
Of course, there are cases like Ryu Kyung-gi, current Jungnang-gu mayor, and Kang Tae-woong, former Administrative Deputy Mayor, who followed the so-called ‘A course’ and did not serve as deputy district mayor.
However, many Seoul City directors share the same wish to serve as deputy district mayor for a long time.
Especially young directors such as Kang Pil-young of Jongno-gu, Choi Hong-yeon of Dongdaemun-gu, Cheon Jeong-uk of Seocho-gu, and Ahn Jun-ho of Songpa-gu want to work as deputy district mayors as long as possible, matching their retirement age.
However, deputy district mayors of local districts also face difficulties. In times of crisis like COVID-19, they often lose sleep at night.
One deputy district mayor said, “The city hall headquarters is tough, but being a deputy district mayor of a local district is equally challenging.”
Still, the position of deputy district mayor of a local district is indeed somewhat more relaxed than that of directors at Seoul City Hall headquarters.
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