Kim In-ho, Seoul Metropolitan Council Member, Announces Candidacy for Seoul Metropolitan Council Chairperson

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Local councils nationwide are abuzz with chairperson elections.

Following the 7th nationwide simultaneous local elections in June 2018, a four-year term began, and by July, the halfway point must be reached. New chairpersons, vice-chairpersons, and standing committee chairs must be elected to start the second half of the council term. As a result, local councils across the country have entered their own leagues.

The Seoul Metropolitan Council has Kim In-ho, a three-term member (Democratic Party of Korea, Dongdaemun 3, born in 1967, born in Yeongam, Jeonnam), running for the 10th chairperson election of the Seoul Metropolitan Council. Kim emphasized, "Following the local elections two years ago and the recent general elections where many votes were given to the Democratic Party of Korea, if we consider these votes as debts or liabilities, then the role of the Seoul Metropolitan Council is to quickly and surely repay the principal and interest."

He also expressed his determination to fulfill the responsibilities of the chairperson role, thinking beyond representing council members to representing the citizens.

In his candidacy statement, Kim proposed the pledge of a "joyful and shining Rak(樂) Hee(熙) Seoul Metropolitan Council," based on the conditions of the Seoul Metropolitan Council and considering the scope of possible changes.

He intends to establish a "Field Council," benchmarking Mayor Park Won-soon's on-site mayor's office, and secure regional budgets through a "Legislative Cooperation Budget System" in the form of Seoul citizens' participatory budgeting. He also proposed opening a "Seoul Metropolitan Council Internal Whistleblower Center."

His pledge related to the death of Seoul city employees due to work overload several years ago is also noteworthy. He plans to create a "Coexistence Yellow Traffic Light" system that allows extension requests for data submission deadlines when council response work is overwhelming, aiming to create an environment where public officials' work-life balance (WLB) is respected at the council level.

Meanwhile, the Seoul Metropolitan Council's second half chairperson election is scheduled with a debate on the 19th and the Democratic Party of Korea chairperson election members' general meeting on the 23rd. Since 80% of the 110 council members are under their 50s, the voting tendencies of relatively younger council members are expected to be a key point in the chairperson election.

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