Seoul Metropolitan Government announces plans Friday to promote six officials to Grade 3 director level; mass resignations from top-tier Grade 1 executives set stage for cascading reshuffle
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who secured a dramatic come-from-behind victory in the June 3 local elections to become the country's first five-term mayor of a major city, is expected to launch a sweeping organizational restructuring and personnel overhaul as his ninth elected term gets underway.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced plans Friday to promote six officials to Grade 3 director-level positions. The announcement followed a mass resignation submission by senior Grade 1 executives and is widely seen as the opening salvo of a broader organizational shake-up.
The number of Grade 3 promotions had originally been expected to number around one for the second half of this year, but the final figure was expanded to six, signaling significant change at the upper ranks of city government.
Inside and outside city hall, the moves are being viewed not as routine promotions but as a fundamental realignment of the senior leadership team for the ninth term. Key Grade 1 officials — including the heads of the economic affairs, welfare, transportation, disaster safety, housing and Arisu waterworks divisions — have all submitted resignations, making a cascade of promotions and reassignments all but inevitable.
Some senior division and bureau chiefs are expected to retire by the end of this month or move to positions such as research professor at the University of Seoul.
Rumors circulated Friday that the resignations of three division chiefs and one bureau chief had already been accepted.
Within city hall, officials expect the promotion round to bring a new generation of senior administrators to the fore — officials who will drive the core policies of the ninth term.
Among those being mentioned as candidates for Grade 3 promotion are Cho Hye-jeong, head of the economic policy division; Kang Seon-mi, public relations officer; Choi Hyeon-jeong, low birth rate response officer; Kang Gyeong-hun, planning officer; Park Ju-seon, head of the transportation policy division; No Su-im, head of the climate and environment policy division; Kim Hyeon-a, head of the autonomous administration division; Lee Hye-yeong, head of the culture policy division; Kim Suk-hee, head of the digital policy division; Choi Seon-hye, head of the finance division; and Kim Yun-ha, head of the education policy support division.
The candidates are regarded as key operational leaders who have driven major policy areas including the economy, planning, transportation, climate and environment, culture and digital transformation. Several are also seen as well-suited to advance Mayor Oh's stated ninth-term priorities: economic revitalization, addressing the low birth rate, digital transformation, the Climate Companion City initiative and the "Walking Together with the Vulnerable" welfare policy.
"Personnel moves aimed at energizing the organization and building a performance-driven staffing system will continue in line with the launch of the ninth term," a Seoul city official said, adding that large-scale reassignments at the director and division chief levels are also likely to follow the Grade 3 promotions.
Once the current round of appointments is complete, the city will have assembled a new senior leadership team to underpin Mayor Oh's fifth-term administration.
Attention inside and outside city hall is focused on the reshuffle, which is expected to determine the driving force behind key projects planned for the next four years — among them the "Gangbuk Renaissance 2.0" initiative, Han River development, the Garden City Seoul vision, measures to address the low birth rate, and transportation innovation.
seouldream01@heraldcorp.com
