Seoul Council of District Mayors: "Mayor Park Won-soon's Administrative Philosophy and Values Must Be Maintained and Developed"

Seoul District Mayors Association Chairman Dong-jin Lee, Together with Seoul District Mayors, Issues Statement on April 14 at 11 AM in Seoul City Hall Briefing Room Regarding Mayor Park Won-soon's Vacancy

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Lee Dong-jin, Chairman of the Seoul Metropolitan Council of District Mayors (Mayor of Dobong District), announced a statement regarding the vacancy of Mayor Park Won-soon at 11 a.m. on the 14th in the Seoul City Hall briefing room.

Chairman Lee first stated that the administrative philosophy and values of the late Mayor Park must be maintained and developed, and that he would cooperate to the fullest extent for this purpose. He also affirmed that the policies and projects at the Seoul city level, which the late Mayor Park had promoted, must be carried out without wavering, and pledged to do his best in his respective position to achieve this.

The main points are as follows.

First, Mayor Park Won-soon’s administrative philosophy and values must be maintained and developed, and we pledge to exert maximum cooperation and effort for this.

Second, the policies and projects at the Seoul city level that Mayor Park Won-soon promoted must be carried out without wavering, and we pledge to do our best in our respective positions for this.

Third, the spirit of Mayor Park Won-soon, who emphasized that “city administration is district administration and district administration is city administration” and respected the values of autonomy and decentralization, must continue in the future, and the projects currently being promoted by the 25 autonomous districts of Seoul must also be carried out without disruption.

Fourth, to ensure that the above tasks are carried out smoothly, the Seoul Metropolitan Council of District Mayors pledges to communicate and cooperate closely with Acting Mayor Seo Jeong-hyeop, the city executive branch, and the Seoul Metropolitan Council.

Fifth, COVID-19 still threatens our society. We take pride in Seoul’s role as a model of K-quarantine and pledge to maintain vigilance and do our best in our respective positions until the pandemic is over.

Below is the full text of the statement.

We stand here today with a still lingering feeling of devastation and shock.

We still cannot believe the very brief farewell he left behind. We know well that the trajectory of his life was very long and his footprints very clear.

Before being the Mayor of Seoul, he was a democrat, a human rights activist, and a symbol of social innovation in the Republic of Korea. His fiercely lived life was a supportive hill for many in hardship and a lighthouse and compass for countless civic activists dedicated to a better society.

The nine years he served as mayor should rightfully be recorded as a period that changed the history of local autonomy in Korea.

The past nine years under his leadership breathed life into fossilized administration in Seoul. He ensured that local autonomy continuously pursued the values of democracy and human rights and institutionalized citizens’ roles beyond mere participation to become subjects of collaborative governance.

The visiting community service centers became a symbol of innovation in Korea’s welfare delivery system. His efforts to strengthen grassroots democracy?the essence of local autonomy?through social economy, residents’ councils, village communities, and village vitality centers have spread nationwide like dandelion seeds.

Moreover, from “Reducing One Nuclear Power Plant” to the recent “Net Zero (carbon neutrality) City Declaration” and “Seoul-style Green New Deal Declaration,” his pioneering policies addressing global challenges such as climate change have made Seoul a city with international leadership in various fields.

The past nine years of Park Won-soon were a time when sprouts of hope?solidarity, cooperation, and trust?grew in the gray cityscape of conflict and competition in Seoul. Now, without him, someone must protect and further nurture those precious sprouts of hope.

The path of innovation that Mayor Park walked was always a continuous challenge for a better society. Challenges are inevitably difficult and lonely. It might be easier to abandon the path of innovation and follow the well-trodden path, but that would not be Park Won-soon’s way. Even if we cannot pioneer a new path of innovation in Seoul without Park Won-soon, we must not stray from the path he paved.

In that sense, the Seoul Metropolitan Council of District Mayors unites its will and expresses the following position.

1. Mayor Park Won-soon’s administrative philosophy and values must be maintained and developed, and we pledge to exert maximum cooperation and effort for this.

2. The policies and projects at the Seoul city level that Mayor Park Won-soon promoted must be carried out without wavering, and we pledge to do our best in our respective positions for this.

3. Furthermore, the spirit of Mayor Park Won-soon, who emphasized that “city administration is district administration and district administration is city administration” and respected the values of autonomy and decentralization, must continue in the future, and the projects currently being promoted by the 25 autonomous districts of Seoul must also be carried out without disruption.

4. To ensure that the above tasks are carried out smoothly, the Seoul Metropolitan Council of District Mayors pledges to communicate and cooperate closely with Acting Mayor Seo Jeong-hyeop, the city executive branch, and the Seoul Metropolitan Council.

5. COVID-19 still threatens our society. We take pride in Seoul’s role as a model of K-quarantine and pledge to maintain vigilance and do our best in our respective positions until the pandemic is over.

July 14, 2020

Seoul Metropolitan Council of District Mayors

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