Senior officials including Second Administrative Vice Mayor Kim Sung-bo, acting Planning and Coordination Office chief Lee Dong-ryul and Administrative Bureau chief Kwak Jong-bin are among the University of Seoul graduates holding key posts — with speculation that their influence could have shifted further had mayoral candidate Jeong Won-o won the election
The University of Seoul is the city's flagship public university, established and funded by the Seoul Metropolitan Government. Over decades of close ties with city administration, it has produced a steady stream of talent that now fills the ranks of Seoul's civil service.
Through a now-defunct special recruitment program for Grade 7 civil servants, large numbers of University of Seoul graduates entered city government. They are widely credited with forming one of the most influential alumni networks inside the Seoul Metropolitan Government today.
University of Seoul graduates currently hold a broad range of senior posts across the city government and its autonomous districts.
Among the most prominent are Second Administrative Vice Mayor Kim Sung-bo, acting Planning and Coordination Office chief Lee Dong-ryul and Administrative Bureau chief Kwak Jong-bin, along with Lee In-geun, Jeong Yeong-jun and Im Jae-geun — all of whom entered city service through the national or local civil service examinations and now occupy key positions.
Other notable figures include Digital City Bureau chief Kang Ok-hyeon, Balanced Development Headquarters chief Kim Chang-gyu, Audit Committee chair Moon Hyeok, and Ko Gwang-hyeon, Yun Bo-yeong, Lee Chang-seok, Jo Mi-suk and Ahn Hyeong-jun, who lead various city and district offices.
Park Suk-hee, Oh Dae-jung and Jin Jae-seop are also University of Seoul graduates. At the section chief level, personnel director Hong Woo-seok is among a considerable number of alumni active across the organization.
The alumni's advance is visible not only in the civil service but also among elected officials.
Songpa-gu District Mayor Seo Gang-seok attended the University of Seoul despite financial hardship, taking part in the drama club while keeping up with his studies. He later passed the national civil service examination while working, rose through the ranks of the Seoul Metropolitan Government and served as chief of staff under then-Mayor Lee Myung-bak. After retiring from public service as head of the management division at the Seoul Agricultural and Marine Products Corporation, he returned to public life more than a decade later, won election as Songpa-gu district mayor and secured re-election in this month's local elections.
Yoo Bo-hwa, the newly elected Seongdong-gu district mayor, is another prominent graduate of the university's taxation department. She built a long career in personnel administration at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, serving as administrative section chief before being promoted to Grade 3 as policy planning officer and later appointed deputy district mayor of Seongdong-gu, a role she held for four years. Her election as district mayor this month marks a successful transition from career administrator to elected official.
Choi Dong-min, the newly elected Dongdaemun-gu district mayor, served as student council president at the University of Seoul before moving into political circles — working as an aide to then-Mayor Park Won-soon, serving in the office of then-Democratic Party leader Choo Mi-ae and later as an administrator at Cheong Wa Dae. He fell short in the eighth round of local elections but spent four years building his base in the district before winning the district mayoral seat on his second attempt.
Inside and outside the Seoul Metropolitan Government, there is broad recognition that the University of Seoul has in effect served as a nursery for the city's administrative talent. Drawing on their experience in city government and their administrative networks, its graduates are expanding their influence across central and local government as well as the political sphere.
That momentum is expected to continue after this month's local elections. One politically interesting observation has also circulated: had mayoral candidate Jeong Won-o won the Seoul mayoral race, the standing and power dynamics of University of Seoul alumni in senior city appointments and affiliated agency posts could have shifted considerably.
"University of Seoul graduates have long served as the backbone of the Seoul Metropolitan Government organization," a city official said. "Grounded in administrative expertise and hands-on experience, they will remain a core talent pool driving Seoul's development going forward."
seouldream01@heraldcorp.com
