Seoul District Public Relations Chiefs and Media Team Leaders Predominantly Male... A Surprise?

Among the 25 autonomous districts of Seoul, 13 male and 12 female heads of public relations departments... 17 male and 8 female heads of press teams

Although there are many female public officials below grade 6 (team leader), the proportion of males is high among heads of public relations departments and press teams, drawing attention

This seems to be a phenomenon arising from the somewhat challenging media relations field after COVID-19

The gender ratio of heads of public relations departments and press teams in the 25 autonomous districts of Seoul shows an unusual male-dominant phenomenon, drawing attention.

While the overall gender ratio of public officials in Seoul’s autonomous districts shows a female majority, the proportion of males is higher among public relations personnel.

As of the personnel changes on July 1, among the heads of public relations departments, 13 districts including Jongno, Jung-gu, and Gwangjin have male heads, while 12 districts including Yongsan, Seongdong, and Dongdaemun have female heads, showing a similar balance.

The male heads are: Jongno’s Jo Yong-seok, Jung-gu’s Joo Jae-bong, Gwangjin’s Lee Jae-eun, Jungnang’s Park No-myung, Gangbuk’s Lee Jin-seok, Dobong’s Yang Ji-seok, Nowon’s Jang Joo-hyun, Seodaemun’s Song Wol-seop, Mapo’s Song In-soo, Gangseo’s Ma Jun-oh, Yeongdeungpo’s Yoo Gwi-hyun, Gwanak’s Kim Seung-won, and Gangdong’s Jeong Young-hwan.

The female heads are: Yongsan’s Choi Hyang-sook, Seongdong’s Park Soo-young, Dongdaemun’s Kim Eun-kyung, Seongbuk’s Yoo Mi-jo, Eunpyeong’s Im Jin, Yangcheon’s Kim Hyang-sook, Guro’s Choi Hyun-sook, Geumcheon’s Im Jeong-hwa, Dongjak’s Shin Soo-kyung, Seocho’s Yoon Kyung-won, Gangnam’s Oh Eun-hyang, and Songpa’s Choi Hyun-jung.

Among them, the heads of public relations departments in Jungnang, Eunpyeong, Yangcheon, Geumcheon, Dongjak, and Gwanak districts were transferred in this personnel reshuffle and took on public relations responsibilities.

In contrast, among the heads of press teams, 17 districts including Jongno, Yongsan, and Dongdaemun have male heads, while 8 districts including Jung-gu, Seongdong, and Gwangjin have female heads.

The male heads of press teams are: Jongno’s Kim Sang-hee, Yongsan’s Lee Young-min, Dongdaemun’s Hong Seung-hee, Jungnang’s Lee Jun-woo, Seongbuk’s Ha Kang-sik, Gangbuk’s Hwang Hyun-jun, Eunpyeong’s Park Young-soo, Yangcheon’s Ham Yong-joo, Gangseo’s Jeong Young-jun, Guro’s Lee Hee-sung, Geumcheon’s Kim Won-gyu, Yeongdeungpo’s Nam Baek-hyun, Dongjak’s Yeo Seung-jae, Seocho’s Jang Jae-won, Gangnam’s Kim Dong-il, Songpa’s Kim Woo-jin, and Gangdong’s Han Sang-chul.

The female heads of press teams are: Jung-gu’s Yoo Soo-yeon, Seongdong’s Lee Hye-sook, Gwangjin’s Kim Kyung-min, Dobong’s Kim Dong-jin, Nowon’s Jung Yoon-kyung, Seodaemun’s Na Jin-ah, Mapo’s Lee Ki-yeon, and Gwanak’s Chae Jin-soo.

Among them, four heads of press teams in Jungnang, Seongbuk, Geumcheon, Gangnam, and Gangdong districts were newly appointed in this personnel reshuffle.

The fact that there are more males among the heads of public relations departments and team leaders in Seoul’s autonomous districts may be analyzed as district mayors choosing males in the somewhat challenging media relations field as the COVID-19 situation eases.

An official A from one autonomous district said, “While the proportion of females below middle management in district offices is much higher than that of males, it is somewhat unusual that the proportion of males is higher among heads of public relations departments and press teams,” adding, “This result may have appeared because media relations is a challenging field.”