Female Public Officials Increase... 'Married Public Officials' in Seoul City and Districts Increase

Increasing Number of Married Couples Among Seoul City Officials
Suyeon Lee and Chaesook Ma, Heegap Kim and Sumi Park, and Other Notable Public Servant Couples

In Seoul and its 25 autonomous districts, female public officials make up about 60-70% of the total workforce.

This is because personnel recruitment regulations, which have long been in place, stipulate that no single gender should exceed 70%.

Accordingly, many autonomous districts in Seoul have exceeded 50% female representation among executives at levels 4 (Director) and 5 (Section/District Chief).

Meanwhile, the number of married couples serving as senior officials in Seoul city and its districts is noticeably increasing.

In Seoul city, Su-yeon Lee, Director of the Garden City Bureau (Level 2), and Chae-sook Ma, Head of the Culture Headquarters (Level 2), are representative married public officials. Both are alumni of Seoul National University and entered Seoul city government through the 1st and 3rd local civil service exams, respectively, playing key roles.

Director Lee organized the Seoul Garden Expo last year and received public praise from Mayor Oh Se-hoon. Head Ma has also been recognized for her capabilities, having served as Financial Planning Officer, Deputy Mayor of Jung-gu, Deputy Mayor of Jongno, and Public Relations Planning Officer. She is especially acknowledged as one of the core trio alongside Jeong Sang-hoon, Chief of the Policy Office, and Lee Dong-ryul, Director of the Administration Bureau, and is regarded as a promising figure for significant future roles.

Deputy Mayor Hee-gap Kim of Seongdong-gu and Director Su-mi Park of Seoul Botanical Garden are also a married couple. Both started as Level 7 officials and met while working in Seoul’s autonomous districts, eventually marrying. Deputy Mayor Kim, known as a personnel expert in Seoul city, was promoted to Level 3 and after serving six months as Transportation Planning Officer, was appointed Deputy Mayor of Seongdong-gu on January 1 this year. Director Park was promoted to Level 4 at the end of last year and was assigned as Director of Seoul Botanical Garden, where she had worked extensively during its development.

Deputy Mayor Kyung-hee Oh of Mapo-gu and Director Kyung-sik Jin, Director of the Seoul City Basic Planning Bureau, also started as Level 7 officials and became a couple while working in Yongsan-gu. Director Jin served as Deputy Mayor of Seodaemun-gu during the 8th elected term, and the couple is regarded as fortunate to have both held deputy mayor positions. An official commented, “The Deputy Mayor is the second-in-command under the Mayor, a coveted position among Seoul city executives who are chauffeured to work. The Oh-Kyung-hee and Jin-Kyung-sik couple seem to have been very fortunate in this regard.”

Deputy Mayor Soon-ki Kwon of Dongjak-gu joined the ranks of married deputy mayors as the wife of former Deputy Mayor Moon-gyu Park of Nowon-gu. Deputy Mayor Kwon was promoted to Level 3 after serving as Head of the Finance Department and then served as Director of the Special Judicial Police Bureau before being appointed Deputy Mayor of Dongjak-gu this year.

There are also many married public officials within the autonomous districts. Mi-ryeong Song, Director of the Cultural Administration Bureau of Nowon-gu, is the wife of former Deputy Mayor Seong-su Kim of Yongsan-gu. Director Song, a Korea University graduate, met and married former Deputy Mayor Kim, who passed the administrative exam, while working in Seongbuk-gu.

Hyun-ja Kim, Head of the Media Team in Gwangjin-gu, Ki-seon Lee, Section Chief in Gangnam-gu, Ki-yeon Lee, District Chief in Mapo-gu, and Im-soo Lee, Section Chief, are also recognized as notable married couples in the public service community.

Thus, the trend of married couples serving as public officials in Seoul city and its autonomous districts is gradually increasing.