Dongdaemun-gu Mayor I Pil-hyeong Shares Life Stories While Reading with Staff?

Dongdaemun-gu Mayor I Pil-hyeong Communicates with Staff through Book Discussion on the 21st... Plans to Continue Library Reading Meetings and Reading Discussions with Elementary, Middle, and High School Reading Clubs

Lee Pil-hyung, Mayor of Dongdaemun District Office, is having a discussion with employees at a book discussion meeting.

“What kind of stories fill your life? How about organizing your own stories by writing them down?”

On the 21st, the first-floor Chaekmadang Library at the district office was filled with the laughter of employees. Dongdaemun-gu Mayor Ilhyeong Lee and the staff gathered to share their opinions and communicate about books.

Since his inauguration last year, Mayor Lee has shown himself as a leader who constantly communicates with employees through departmental meetings and a district talk show commemorating his first anniversary in office. His smooth and gentle speech comes from his habit of keeping books close. He starts his day with newspapers and books spread out in his office as soon as he arrives in the morning, and he is so dedicated to reading that he reads whenever he has time, even in the car while commuting.

That day, he discussed the novel The Weight of Language by Pascal Mercier with the employees. The novel tells the story of a protagonist who, after being diagnosed with a brain tumor and organizing his life, later learns it was a misdiagnosis and contemplates how to spend the new time given to him.

Mayor Lee read impressive passages from the book, which was full of underlines and highlights. “Success or failure in life is determined by special events that are distinct from others. Everyone experiences their own life….” He and the employees empathized with the protagonist’s situation and shared various opinions about attitudes and approaches to life.

Starting with this reading discussion with employees, Mayor Lee plans to continue holding discussions once a month. On December 15, he plans to hold sessions with the employee reading club and later arrange meetings with local libraries’ reading groups as well as elementary, middle, and high school reading clubs.