On the Last Day of His 12-Year Term, Oguseok Gijang County Governor's Actions... Solo Protest in the Morning, Guarding the Nighttime County Office at Night

Oh Kyu-seok, the mayor of Busan's Gijang County, who held a solo protest until the last day of his term.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] On the last day of his third consecutive term, the 30th, Oh Gyu-seok, the mayor of Busan's Gijang County, once again took to the streets.

At 10:30 a.m. that day, Mayor Oh held a placard in front of Busan City Hall, firmly opposing the final approval of Busan City's ‘Ilgwang Samdeok District Housing Construction Project Plan.’ This was his 41st solo protest related to this issue.

At midnight that night, Mayor Oh would step down. His determination to continue his work until the very last moment of his term was no different from usual.

He said he would stay in the night mayor's office until the public officials left work. On July 1, the day after, he planned to return as a resident of Gijang County and resume his original profession as a Korean medicine doctor.

He served as the mayor of Gijang County for 12 years consecutively and opened a Korean medicine clinic without a single day off, providing treatment every day until 10 p.m.

No one files complaints when a term is ending. No one would listen to the protests of someone finishing their term, but Mayor Oh continued his work.

During the solo protest, Mayor Oh pointed out again, “The approval of the Ilgwang Samdeok District Housing Construction Project Plan is a wrong administrative decision that disregards the local circumstances, which are expected to cause traffic congestion problems in the Ilgwang New Town area and lead to severe traffic jams.”

“We absolutely cannot accept the approval of the Ilgwang Samdeok District Housing Construction Project Plan, which will exacerbate the suffering and sacrifices of residents in the Ilgwang New Town area due to traffic chaos and sewage problems. Busan City should apologize to the residents of Gijang County for approving this project plan,” he declared as his final statement.

The solo protests of Mayor Oh, who has set Guinness-worthy records as a local government head, have now come to an end.