Park Hee-young Inaugurated as Yongsan District Mayor of the 8th Civil Election... Skipping Inauguration Ceremony, Into the Field from Day One

[Seoul District News] The 41st Park Hee-young, Yongsan-gu Mayor, Skips Inauguration Ceremony on July 1 Considering Difficult Economic Conditions, Replaces It with Department Visits to Meet Staff · Mayor Park Directs Focus of All District Efforts on Livelihoods, Orders Break from Excessive Protocol and Events Practices

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Yongsan-gu (District Mayor Hee-young Park) will welcome its 41st district mayor, Hee-young Park, on July 1. As the first female district mayor of Yongsan, Mayor Park plans to replace the inauguration ceremony with a so-called “visiting greeting,” meeting employees by visiting each department within the district office.

This is intended to prevent the waste of administrative manpower required to prepare for the inauguration event, considering recent economic difficulties caused by the sharp rise in international oil prices and consumer price inflation. It reflects Mayor Park’s usual belief that district administration capabilities should focus on people’s livelihoods rather than excessive ceremonies or events.

Accordingly, the first day’s arrival ceremony will be replaced by meeting some employees working in the Civil Affairs and Passport Department on the second floor, and the greeting with employees will also be minimized in terms of the number of participants, considering working hours.

The official schedule will begin at 8 a.m. with a visit to the National Cemetery. At 9 a.m., after signing the office handover documents in the mayor’s office, she will start full-scale district administration work. During lunch, she will dine with social welfare officials in the district cafeteria and listen to the current status and difficulties of resident welfare.

Following this, Mayor Park will tour all departments of the district office, the U-Yongsan Integrated Control Center, and the Building Disaster Prevention Center from 3 p.m.

Mayor Park is expected to say, “Successful district administration is impossible without the help of 1,300 Yongsan-gu public officials,” and “I will create an environment where all employees can take pride and focus on their work.”

After the day’s work, as part of on-site administration, she will also visit Yongmun Market. This visit aims to listen to market merchants and residents struggling with high prices and to explore support measures to revitalize the traditional market.

Mayor Hee-young Park has stated, “Yongmun Market is a precious place that inspired my political dreams,” and she has announced that it will be the first place she visits after her election.

Born in May 1961, Mayor Park graduated from Ewha Womans University with a degree in Political Science and Diplomacy and earned a master’s degree in Political Science (Public Policy) from the Graduate School of Public Policy at the same university. She served as a member of the 7th Yongsan District Council and as a policy advisor to Kwon Young-se, a People Power Party member of the National Assembly representing Yongsan.

Inaugural Address

Hello. I am Hee-young Park, the 8th elected mayor of Yongsan-gu.

Answering the call of the residents, I have taken office as the 41st mayor of Yongsan-gu. With the recent relocation of the presidential office in May, Yongsan, poised to become the number one district for politics, economy, and culture, now stands before a great leap forward. We will transform the urban space severed by the undergrounding of the Gyeongbu and Gyeongwon railway lines, turn the Yongsan Maintenance Depot into an international business district, and redevelop the Seoul Station area and the electronics market into a hub for the 4th industrial revolution, making this hard-won opportunity a reality. The top priority of the 8th elected term is to ensure a comfortable life for residents by creating a pleasant and safe residential environment and establishing a social safety net to eliminate welfare blind spots so that the warmth of growth reaches everyone. We will make Yongsan a great place to raise children by strengthening public education programs and improving childcare and educational environments. We will also strive to implement policies supporting small business owners and SMEs, the backbone of the local economy. Through regulatory reform, we will expedite reconstruction and redevelopment for the benefit of residents. Utilizing cultural and artistic infrastructure such as the National Museum of Korea, which Yongsan proudly hosts, we will make Yongsan a premier cultural tourism destination visited by people worldwide. In this way, we will complete the map of Yongsan as a premium city.

Dear residents of Yongsan, we are currently facing difficulties in the everyday economy due to the triple challenges of high oil prices, high inflation, and high interest rates. To cooperate with the government’s price stabilization measures and share the pain experienced by Yongsan residents, I chose not to hold a separate event on my first day in office and instead visited the field. Believing that eliminating unnecessary formalities and customs is the first step toward district administration for the residents, I devoted myself to work from day one. Going forward, together with 1,300 public officials of Yongsan-gu, I will lead new changes so that all 230,000 residents of Yongsan can feel the greatest pride through a better life. I will make Yongsan a happy place. Thank you.