Mayor Park Won-soon, Who Fought COVID-19 Well, Also Struggles with 'Personnel Affairs'?

As Mayor Park marks 10 years since his inauguration as Seoul Mayor, he receives positive evaluations for appointing heads of affiliated organizations with expertise and character among former senior Seoul officials... Kim Sang-beom, former Seoul Deputy Mayor for Administration, is a strong candidate for President of Seoul Transportation Corporation... consecutive good appointments including Jo Seong-il, Chairman of Seoul Facilities Corporation, Kim Kyung-ho, President of Seoul Agro-Fisheries & Food Corporation, and Ko In-seok, Director of Seoul Institute.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Mayor Park Won-soon is putting his life on the line in the fight against COVID-19.

Drawing on his experience of successfully managing the initial response during the MERS outbreak, he is responding strongly to COVID-19 as well.

Although over 100 confirmed cases occurred at the call center of an insurance company in the Guro Korea Building, the prevailing analysis is that there will be no further spread due to comprehensive countermeasures.

Meanwhile, Mayor Park, who recently marked 10 years in office as the first elected mayor of Seoul’s third term, is receiving glowing evaluations for his appointments of heads of affiliated institutions, drawing attention.

Among Seoul’s affiliated institutions, the largest is Seoul Transportation Corporation, which has begun the process of appointing a new president after the previous president stepped down following a tenure of over six years (including as president of Seoul Metro).

The Transportation Corporation’s Presidential Recommendation Committee conducted interviews with candidates on the afternoon of the 13th and reportedly submitted former Seoul Deputy Mayor Kim Sang-beom as the top candidate to the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

From the time of the call for candidates for the president of Seoul Transportation Corporation, Kim was regarded both internally and externally as the “number one candidate” for the position.

In particular, Kim is not only a transportation expert who served as head of Seoul’s Transportation Headquarters but also one of Mayor Park’s closest aides, having served alongside him as Administrative Deputy Mayor.

Moreover, Kim is recognized for his character, having been selected as one of the most respected “best public officials” among former senior Seoul city officials.

Because of these factors, there were many rumors early on that Kim would become president of Seoul Transportation Corporation, but he reportedly initially declined, recommending younger senior officials from Seoul such as j and k instead.

Nevertheless, Mayor Park appears set to appoint Kim as president.

Once Kim completes the personnel hearing at the Seoul Metropolitan Council and assumes office as the second president of the integrated Seoul Transportation Corporation, he is expected to initiate organizational innovation through personnel restructuring.

In particular, a major overhaul of the technical department, which has been plagued by issues such as seismic design, seems inevitable.

As Mayor Park’s experience as Seoul mayor accumulates, evaluations that his personnel appointments have become more stable are not limited to Kim.

This can be seen in his selection of retired senior officials from Seoul city who have been highly regarded for both their work capabilities and character, such as Cho Sung-il, Chairman of Seoul Facilities Corporation; Kim Kyung-ho, President of Seoul Agricultural and Marine Products Corporation; and Ko In-seok, Director of Seoul Institute of Technology.

Chairman Cho, a top safety expert who served as head of Seoul’s Safety Headquarters, was notably appointed to manage major Seoul facilities as head of Seoul Facilities Corporation.

Former Seoul Metropolitan Council Secretary-General Kim Kyung-ho is a skilled planner who has handled key roles such as head of the Welfare Headquarters and Transportation Headquarters.

President Kim is receiving positive evaluations for actively communicating with stakeholders, including those at Garak Market, focusing on fieldwork.

Director Ko In-seok, after serving as head of Seoul’s Safety Headquarters, was appointed as the inaugural director of the Seoul Institute of Technology and is credited with laying a solid foundation.

In this way, Mayor Park is providing stability in organizational management by appointing former senior public officials from Seoul city who possess both ability and character.

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