Gyeonggi Province Senior Officials 'Ahead of General Election'... Concerns Over Administrative Vacuum

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] As Gyeonggi Province faces the upcoming National Assembly election (general election) in April, concerns are growing over administrative gaps as high-ranking officials such as the Vice Governors and spokespersons are resigning one after another.

According to Gyeonggi Province and its affiliated organizations on the 28th, the major officials who resigned from the provincial executive branch to run in the April general election include Lee Hwa-young, Vice Governor for Peace, Cho Gye-won, Chief Policy Secretary, and Kim Yong, Spokesperson.

Additionally, Lee Hwa-soon, Administrative Vice Governor 2, retired honorably on the 30th of last month, leaving two of the three Vice Governor positions vacant except for Kim Hee-gyeom, Administrative Vice Governor 1.

With calls to increase the number of Vice Governors from three to four for the benefit of 13.5 million Gyeonggi residents, the simultaneous departure of two out of three Vice Governors has raised concerns about disruptions in provincial administration.

The problem is that it is expected to take some time to fill the two vacant Vice Governor positions. For the Administrative Vice Governor 2, who is responsible for the lives and welfare of 3.5 million residents in the northern Gyeonggi region, Hwang Seong-tae, head of the Hwanghae Free Economic Zone Authority, is a strong candidate, but the personnel screening by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety for a first-grade public official is delayed, which is likely to take time.

Moreover, finding a successor for Lee Hwa-young, Vice Governor for Peace, is also expected to be challenging. Vice Governor Lee has served as the control tower for Gyeonggi Province’s inter-Korean projects as a 'North Korea expert.' In particular, Gyeonggi Province planned to actively promote major inter-Korean peace cooperation projects this year, such as the resumption of Kaesong tourism, independently from the government.

Furthermore, Cho Gye-won, Chief Policy Secretary, who was in charge of the core policy of the 7th Gyeonggi Province administration, the 'Basic Income,' resigned to run in the general election in Yeosu, Jeollanam-do, which is expected to cause setbacks for the 'World Basic Income Expo' scheduled for April 6-8. Cho served as the executive director of the event.

Finding a successor for the spokesperson, known as 'Lee Jae-myung’s voice,' has also been stalled for three months. Although Kim Yong, the spokesperson, resigned early last November to run in the Seongnam Bundang general election, no successor has been found yet.

Movements by heads of provincial affiliated organizations and high-ranking officials to run in the April general election are also accelerating. Kim Kyung-pyo, chairman of the Gyeonggi Content Agency, has registered as a preliminary candidate in Gwangmyeong Gap. Lim Geun-jae, executive director of the Gyeonggi Economic Science Promotion Agency, has declared his candidacy in the Uijeongbu area.

Han Seon-jae, head of the Gyeonggi Lifelong Education Promotion Agency, and Kim Jae-yong, deputy director of the Gyeonggi Research Institute, decided against running after much deliberation until the last moment.

A provincial official explained, "Although some voices express concerns about administrative gaps as high-ranking officials such as Vice Governors, spokespersons, and chief policy secretaries resign one after another for the general election, the provincial administration operates as a system, so we believe there will be no disruption in the execution of duties for the vacant positions."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.