Democratic Party's Seong Heum-je and People Power Party's Lee Seong-bae nominated as deputy speakers; full council vote to confirm next month

Im Man-gyun, nominee for speaker of the Seoul Metropolitan Council. [Seoul Metropolitan Council]
Im Man-gyun, nominee for speaker of the Seoul Metropolitan Council. [Seoul Metropolitan Council]

Im Man-gyun of the Democratic Party of Korea has been nominated as speaker candidate for the first half of the 12th Seoul Metropolitan Council, which begins Wednesday. Seong Heum-je of the Democratic Party and Lee Seong-bae of the People Power Party were nominated as deputy speaker candidates. Their elections will be confirmed by a vote of all council members at a plenary session next month.

According to the parties represented in the Seoul Metropolitan Council, the Democratic Party held a general assembly of its elected members Monday and chose Im, a three-term council member (48, Gwanak District 3), as its speaker nominee. By convention, the speaker is drawn from the majority party — in this case the Democratic Party — while the two deputy speaker seats are split one each between the Democratic Party and the People Power Party.

Im graduated from Hannam University with a degree in urban and regional planning and worked as a certified labor attorney before entering politics. He has won election to the council three consecutive times, starting with the 2018 local elections through the June 3 local elections this year. During the 11th Seoul Metropolitan Council, he served as chair of the Environment and Water Resources Committee. Under his chairmanship, the committee in April voted down a Seoul Metropolitan Government proposal to amend an MOU to fund pier access improvements for Han River bus operators.

The council typically selects its speaker by acclamation of the most senior member. This time, however, six candidates entered the race under the banner of checking Mayor Oh Se-hoon's influence. No candidate secured a majority in the first round, prompting a runoff among the top three vote-getters — Kim In-je (four terms), Kang Dong-gil (three terms) and Im — with Im ultimately prevailing.

Seong Heum-je, a three-term council member (61, Eunpyeong District 1), was nominated as the Democratic Party's deputy speaker candidate. Seong holds a master's degree in urban planning from Yonsei University's Graduate School of Engineering and has served as a specialist member of the Presidential Committee on Balanced National Development and as a non-standing spokesperson for the Democratic Party.

The People Power Party selected Lee Seong-bae (50, Songpa District 4) as its deputy speaker candidate at a party assembly held June 25. Lee is also a three-term council member and has served on most of the council's standing committees, including the Housing and Space Committee, the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, the Health and Welfare Committee, and the Planning and Economy Committee.

Lee Sang-hun (57, Gangbuk District 2) of the Democratic Party and Kim Gil-yeong (53, Gangnam District 6) of the People Power Party were elected as their respective parties' floor leaders.

The speaker and deputy speaker nominees will be formally confirmed by a vote of all council members at a plenary session following the opening of the 12th council next month.

Unlike the 11th Seoul Metropolitan Council, in which the People Power Party held a majority, the incoming 12th council will be dominated by the Democratic Party. The local elections gave the Democratic Party 80 of the council's 118 seats, with the People Power Party taking 38.


ikson@heraldcorp.com