Since the 5th term of local government, close friends of the same age who sometimes played the role of political mentors... Especially on the evening of the 8th, the dinner gathering with district heads of Seoul from the 5th and 6th terms became their final meeting, causing regret.
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Seong Jang-hyun, Mayor of Yongsan-gu, could not sleep a wink all night and visited the funeral hall of Mayor Park Won-soon set up at Seoul National University Hospital early on the 10th before going to work.
In a phone call with reporters that morning, Mayor Seong could not hide his devastated expression upon hearing the news of Mayor Park's death. Having had a special relationship with Mayor Park Won-soon since the 5th term of the local government in 2011, he apparently could not get a proper night's sleep the previous night and visited Seoul National University Hospital early on the 10th where Mayor Park's body was laid to rest.
Being the same age as Mayor Park, both born in 1956, and sometimes serving as a political mentor, Mayor Seong said, “I could not sleep a wink all night thinking about how he could leave the Seoul citizens and the city administration, whom he cherished more than his own life, and how difficult it must have been.”
He also shared a story about the gathering on the 8th, where former and current district mayors and members of the National Assembly who had worked with Mayor Park during the 5th and 6th local government terms came together and shared a glass of Makgeolli after a long time.
Since it was Mayor Seong’s birthday that day, a cake was prepared and they sang a birthday song together, he said, expressing regret, “It was a comfortable gathering after a long time, but it turned out to be the last meeting.”
The meeting was reportedly attended by former Mapo-gu Mayor Park Hong-seop, former Gwangjin-gu Mayor Kim Ki-dong, Jongno-gu Mayor Kim Young-jong, Dongdaemun-gu Mayor Yoo Deok-yeol, Seodaemun-gu Mayor Moon Seok-jin, Dobong-gu Mayor Lee Dong-jin, current district mayors, former Nowon-gu Mayor Kim Seong-hwan, National Assembly member Kim Young-bae (former Seongbuk-gu Mayor), and Seoul Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs Kim Woo-young (former Eunpyeong-gu Mayor).
Meanwhile, Mayor Seong, along with Dongdaemun-gu Mayor Yoo Deok-yeol, visited Seoul National University Hospital early in the morning to pay respects at Mayor Park’s funeral hall before going to work, and plans to return later for a formal condolence visit.
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