What Kind of Position Is the 'Seoul City Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs' Who Produced the National Assembly Speaker?

Speaker Park Byeong-seok Began Political Career as Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs in 1999
Under Current Mayor, Jin Seong-jun and Kim Won, Former Deputy Mayors for Political Affairs, Also Entered National Assembly
Mayor Park Won-soon Appoints Former Eunpyeong District Mayor Kim Woo-young as New Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] With Park Byeong-seok assuming the position of Speaker of the National Assembly, public attention is focused on the position of Seoul Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs, which he used as a stepping stone into politics.

Park, a former journalist, began his political career when he was appointed Seoul Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs in 1999. He is a six-term National Assembly member representing Seo-gu Gap in his hometown of Daejeon and has now risen to the second highest protocol rank in South Korea as Speaker of the National Assembly. He is considered the most successful politician to have come from the Seoul Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs position.

Recently, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon appointed Kim Woo-young, former Eunpyeong District Mayor and Strategic Committee Member of the Presidential Committee on Balanced National Development, as the new Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs. As a result, current Deputy Mayor Moon Mi-ran will step down after only six months in office, drawing interest in her future moves.

Kim Woo-young, Nominee for Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs of Seoul Metropolitan Government

The immediate past Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs was Kim Won-yi, who is now a National Assembly member. He also leveraged the Deputy Mayor position to run in Mokpo, Jeollanam-do, where he demonstrated his strength by defeating the influential former lawmaker Park Ji-won. Kim is close friends with Kim Woo-young, who has been appointed as the next Deputy Mayor. Both are alumni of Sungkyunkwan University, and when Kim Woo-young was elected Eunpyeong District Mayor, Kim Won-yi served as his chief of staff.

Meanwhile, the appointee Kim Woo-young led Eunpyeong District Office for eight years and served as Secretary for Institutional Reform and Secretary for Local Autonomy Development at the Blue House. After losing to incumbent lawmaker Kang Byung-won in the preliminary election for this general election, he is moving to the Seoul Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs position.

The Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs is a vice-ministerial political official who assists the mayor and oversees relations with political parties, the Seoul Metropolitan Council, and the media. In Seoul, led by Mayor Park, before Kim Won-yi, lawmaker Jin Seong-jun also served as Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs before successfully entering the National Assembly.

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