Yeongju Mayor-elect Hwang Byeong-jik poses for a photo with his wife. [Hwang Byeong-jik campaign]
Yeongju Mayor-elect Hwang Byeong-jik poses for a photo with his wife. [Hwang Byeong-jik campaign]

Hwang Byeong-jik won the Yeongju mayoral race in the 9th nationwide local elections Thursday.

"I am overjoyed," Hwang said in his victory statement Thursday. "After 20 years as an independent, I still can't believe I've been elected mayor of Yeongju as a People Power Party member."

He added, however, that anxiety and apprehension outweighed his joy. "Winning the election was the first goal, but the ultimate goal is to become mayor and make Yeongju belong to its citizens," he said.

Hwang said every day was too precious to wait until taking office. He pledged to immediately act on his campaign pledge to expand parking at Yeongju City Hall, and said he would work through his other key pledges one by one — including construction of a mixed-use residential and commercial apartment complex at the public market and an overhaul of civil service culture to improve public complaint handling.

He also extended an olive branch to his rivals. "I offer my sincere condolences to all the candidates who competed against me," he said. "They are all outstanding individuals, and I hope we can work together for the development of Yeongju. I will be the first to reach out."

"From today, I will be the mayor of every Yeongju citizen," Hwang said. "I will use every conflict from the campaign as the foundation for greater unity." He said he would allow himself only one day to savor his victory before embarking on an energetic journey alongside Yeongju's roughly 1,000 civil servants and 100,000 residents to make the city truly belong to its people.


kbj7653@heraldcorp.com