Seongdong District Mayor Jeong Won-o Becomes Seoul's Only Three-Term Mayor; Prompt Mobile Complaint Reception and Sincere Online Response Shine... Reelected Mayors Ryu Gyeong-gi (Jungnang), Oh Seung-rok (Nowon), Park Jun-hee (Gwanak), Kim Mi-kyung (Eunpyeong) Actively Respond to COVID-19, Residents React Positively
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] “To win elections in the future, seize the online world.”
As the world rapidly shifts online, it is being concluded that an online approach is necessary to win elections.
Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu (photo), was not expected by many to win the June 1 local elections, the first held after the presidential election defeat.
In the March 9 presidential election, Seongdong-gu was a region where candidate Yoon Seok-yeol won by about 20,000 votes (10%). It is considered a conservative area dominated by apartments in the so-called ‘Mayongsung’ (Mapo-Yongsan-Seongdong-gu Han River belt).
Therefore, even with the favorable image of Mayor Jung Won-oh, it was seen as difficult to overcome the 20,000-vote barrier.
It was surprising even when a media outlet’s poll a week before the election showed Jung leading by only 0.6% among candidates for the 25 district mayors of Seoul.
However, when the results came out, Mayor Jung won by a margin of 21,000 votes over his opponent.
Of course, the People Power Party’s candidate Kang Maeng-hoon was confirmed late, making it difficult for local residents to recognize him. Also, it is known that the People Power Party’s Seongdong organization did not fully unite in support.
Nevertheless, it drew attention that public opinion could change so much within about 80 days after the presidential election.
The conclusion was that voters aged 60 and over cast ‘split votes’?voting for People Power Party’s Oh Se-hoon for mayor but for Democratic Party’s Jung Won-oh for district mayor. This contrasted with other regions where seniors overwhelmingly supported the conservative People Power Party candidates.
So why did seniors aged 60 and over in Seongdong-gu give overwhelming support to the incumbent Jung Won-oh regardless of party?
◆Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, receives high marks for ‘prompt online civil complaint response’
Mayor Jung opened a ‘direct civil complaint mobile phone line’ and made it accessible to residents, receiving positive feedback.
Through district office elevators (photo) and newsletters, he actively publicized the Jung Won-oh (text-only) number with messages like “Feel free to contact us anytime with inconveniences, suggestions, or complaints.”
This phone line had a dedicated staff in the secretary’s office who checked the content of incoming messages and immediately responded after confirming with the relevant departments.
This was a complete turnaround from the usual long delays in handling complaints.
A senior resident in A-dong, Seongdong-gu, said right after the election, “Our family has traditionally been conservative, but after sending a complaint via Mayor Jung’s phone and receiving a sincere and prompt reply, we voted for Oh Se-hoon of the People Power Party for mayor and Jung Won-oh of the Democratic Party for district mayor.”
Another person who succeeded through resolving civil complaints is Assemblywoman Jo Eun-hee from Seocho-gu. She was a two-term Seocho-gu mayor and won a by-election for the National Assembly held alongside the March 9 presidential election.
Assemblywoman Jo also established a system during her mayoral tenure where the relevant department head personally responded to residents’ complaints, which helped her enter the National Assembly.
A resident named Choi from Seocho-gu recently told a reporter, “I posted a relatively minor complaint on the Seocho-gu office website, and the department head personally called to explain the situation, which moved me.”
Residents were impressed by the mayor’s sincerity in promptly addressing their concerns.
Accordingly, the recent local elections confirmed that Seoul residents are well aware of their district mayor’s name and activities.
In particular, some succeeded by firmly establishing their personal brand and strengthening communication with residents.
Ryu Kyung-gi, re-elected mayor of Jungnang-gu, is evaluated to have won by more than 10,000 votes through efforts such as a campaign to have 1,000 books read to children aged 5 to 7 before school, hosting ‘Neighborhood Visits’ to discuss local issues with residents, and cleaning neighborhood alleys 100 times over four years, prompting admiration with comments like “Has there ever been a Jungnang-gu mayor like this before?”
Ultimately, it was concluded that when a mayor becomes one with the residents, victory is possible even under adverse conditions.
The victories of these re-elected and three-term mayors shine even more given the unfavorable conditions following the presidential election defeat.
◆Jung Won-oh of Seongdong, Ryu Kyung-gi of Jungnang, Oh Seung-rok of Nowon, Park Jun-hee of Gwanak, Kim Mi-kyung of Eunpyeong, etc., successfully re-elected or three-term mayors who handled the ‘COVID-19 situation’ well
Mayor Jung, who has served as Seongdong-gu mayor for the past eight years, especially devoted himself to seniors during the two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was also a key to his victory.
Since March 2020, when COVID-19 broke out, Mayor Jung provided large quantities of masks to seniors and devoted tremendous effort to vaccination. Notably, he set up Seoul’s first vaccination center on the third floor auditorium of Seongdong-gu Office and frequently greeted seniors visiting the center.
He also hired many local residents as temporary contract workers at the vaccination center.
Additionally, he called or sent texts to COVID-19 confirmed patients to check on their well-being.
This effective utilization of the COVID-19 situation is regarded as a very important secret to success.
Moreover, as a former vice president of the student council at the University of Seoul, with eight years as a parliamentary aide to Assemblyman Lim Jong-seok and eight years as Seongdong-gu mayor, he knows Seongdong-gu better than anyone and has excellent skills in managing many residents.
He is also known for hiring 20 to 30 secretaries, mainly external personnel.
In particular, Mayor Jung showed meticulousness by holding his election office opening ceremony with only residents, excluding Democratic Party’s Seoul mayoral candidate Song Young-gil, Seoul city councilors, and Seongdong-gu council candidates, which even made city and district councilors feel slighted.
This appears to be an effort to thoroughly eliminate the unpopular Democratic Party image. His delicate handling led to success.
However, Mayor Jung cannot serve as district mayor any longer unless he aims for the National Assembly after reaching the three-term limit.
It drew attention that Democratic Party three-term mayors lost in seven districts including Jongno, Yongsan, Dongdaemun, Dobong, Seodaemun, Gangseo, and Guro. Among the three-term Democratic mayors’ districts, only Park Gyeom-su’s area in Gangbuk-gu saw a narrow victory by candidate Lee Soon-hee by about 500 votes.
Also, Oh Seung-rok, re-elected mayor of Nowon-gu, was praised for having staff travel nationwide to secure masks and provide them free to seniors when the mask shortage occurred during COVID-19.
Park Jun-hee, re-elected mayor of Gwanak-gu, also gained fame for continuously visiting vaccination centers and greeting seniors. Kim Mi-kyung of Eunpyeong and Yoo Seong-hoon of Geumcheon-gu made similar efforts and received good evaluations.
◆The third secret of Democratic district mayors who won elections: good evaluations from staff
This time, seven incumbent Democratic district mayors?Jung Won-oh of Seongdong, Ryu Kyung-gi of Jungnang, Lee Seung-ro of Seongbuk, Oh Seung-rok of Nowon, Kim Mi-kyung of Eunpyeong, Yoo Seong-hoon of Geumcheon, and Park Jun-hee of Gwanak?were successful.
This is interpreted as due to relatively good evaluations from district office staff in various aspects. About one-third of the staff are residents of the district, so their influence is significant.
Therefore, for future re-election or three-term success, newly elected Seoul district mayors must pay close attention to communication with their staff.
In particular, staff may seem unaware of the mayor but actually have detailed knowledge of their ability, character, and integrity, which should be deeply considered.
District mayor candidates who lost this election will painfully realize how difficult and precious it is to gather residents’ votes one by one to win.
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