Former Journalist Seoul District Mayor Recruiting Former Journalist as Public Relations Director?

Jung Soon-gyun, Gangnam District Mayor, Appointed Policy PR Director Former Progressive Internet Media Reporter; Jo Eun-hee, Seocho District Mayor, Recruits Conservative Internet Media Female Reporter as PR Manager Sparks Attention

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Among the 25 district mayors of Seoul, only two are former journalists: Jung Soon-gyun, Mayor of Gangnam District, and Cho Eun-hee, Mayor of Seocho District.

While politicians such as Oh Seung-rok, former city council member and Mayor of Nowon District; Kim Seon-gap, Mayor of Gwangjin District; and Kim Mi-kyung, Mayor of Eunpyeong District, dominate the scene, and various profiles like Ryu Kyung-gi, former Administrative Deputy Mayor of Seoul and current Mayor of Jungnang District, and Park Sung-soo, former Legal Secretary at the Blue House and current Mayor of Songpa District, exist, only these two district mayors are former journalists.

Jung Soon-gyun, Mayor of Gangnam District, joined JoongAng Ilbo through open recruitment and served up to deputy bureau chief. Later, he served as head of the Government Information Agency during the Roh Moo-hyun administration, reflecting his strong progressive stance. He became the first progressive mayor of Gangnam District in 23 years since the implementation of local autonomy.

Cho Eun-hee, Mayor of Seocho District, started as a Seoul correspondent for Yeongnam Ilbo, worked as a reporter for Kyunghyang Shinmun, served as a secretary at the Blue House, and was the first female political deputy mayor of Seoul. She is the only mayor from the United Future Party in Seoul.

These two district mayors have taken pride in their backgrounds as former journalists and entrusted the publicity work for the second half of the 7th local government term to former journalists.

After taking office in the 7th term, Jung Soon-gyun initially recruited an external person, not a public official, as head of the Policy Public Relations Office, but the person resigned shortly after, so a district office public official was appointed.

However, upon his reappointment as mayor, he appointed Mr. Lee, a former journalist who had worked with him as a chief secretary, as head of the Public Relations Office through an open recruitment process.

After taking office in the 6th term, Cho Eun-hee appointed an external person as head of the Public Relations Division, but the person retired soon after, so the position was managed by a regular public official for a while. In the 7th term, she again recruited an external person with experience as a National Assembly aide and from the Blue House Public Relations Office as head of the Public Relations Division.

However, as the previous head of the Public Relations Division moved to become a National Assembly aide, she recruited Mr. Yoon, a former journalist of a conservative internet media outlet and from the Blue House Public Relations Office, as head of the Public Relations Division.

Thus, the progressive-leaning Jung Soon-gyun, Mayor of Gangnam District, recruited a former progressive internet media journalist, while the conservative-leaning Cho Eun-hee, Mayor of Seocho District, recruited a former female journalist from a conservative internet media outlet as heads of publicity, drawing attention.

This is interpreted as a judgment that regular public officials are somewhat inexperienced in publicity work and especially show limitations in conducting publicity that suits the tastes of elected district mayors.

However, in the 4th local government term, there were cases where former journalists served as heads of the Public Relations Division in Mapo and Gangnam Districts but did not last long and resigned. This was because the public service community was closed off and rarely opened its heart to external personnel, so former journalists, who were relatively in a dominant position, could not sustain their tenure.

In particular, the fact that former journalists sometimes failed to communicate smoothly with other journalists was also seen as a limitation. It will be worth watching what roles these two district public relations heads will play.

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