By-election on April 7, Next Year
Seoul City Hall
[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] With the death of Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, the Seoul Metropolitan Government will operate under the Deputy Mayor's acting authority system until the by-election in April next year.
According to the current Local Autonomy Act, when the head of a local government is vacant (闕位 - position is empty), the deputy head such as the deputy mayor is to act on their behalf. In the case of Seoul, Administrative Deputy Mayor Seo Jeong-hyeop will take on this role.
Deputy Mayor Seo is a graduate of the 35th Administrative Examination (1991) and has held key administrative positions including Seoul City Administrative Director, Mayor’s Secretariat Chief, Citizen Communication Planning Officer, and Head of the Culture Headquarters. He is regarded as an administrative expert who can smoothly lead Seoul’s administration based on his extensive administrative experience.
However, there are clear limitations as an acting authority. It is difficult to expect the same political power as an elected mayor, so on issues where there are disagreements with the government, such as real estate policies, it may be hard to maintain the existing Seoul city policies or to raise a strong voice.
According to the Public Official Election Act, the by-election to elect members of the National Assembly, local council members, and heads of local governments is scheduled for April 7 next year. The new Seoul mayor will also be elected at that time, and until then, the Deputy Mayor Seo’s acting authority system is expected to be maintained for about nine months.
Next year, not only the Seoul mayoral by-election but also the Busan mayoral by-election will be held together. In April, former Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don abruptly resigned after allegations of sexually harassing a female public official, leaving the Busan mayor position vacant and currently operating under an acting authority system.
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