12 New 'Participation Ombudsmen' Appointed to Oversee Seoul Public Projects and Administrative Improvements

Seoul Citizen Audit Ombudsman Committee Increases Female and Youth Representation and Secures Experienced Professionals from Various Fields

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The Seoul Citizens' Audit Ombudsman Committee has newly appointed 12 non-standing commissioned 'Citizen Participation Ombudsmen,' including legal scrivener Ha Kyung-min, on the 30th. These ombudsmen support the committee's activities and participate in improving Seoul's administration.

The newly appointed members are successors to the previous 12 Citizen Participation Ombudsmen who had to cease activities due to term expiration. The term for participation ombudsmen is two years, with one possible renewal, and there are a total of 35 members. The committee appointed 12 members after an internal review from 66 candidates who applied through the Seoul city website and various recommendations between June 29 and July 14.

With the appointment of the new participation ombudsmen, the committee increased the number of women among the total 35 participation ombudsmen from 7 to 11 (31.4%) and the number of youth aged 39 or younger from 2 to 7 (20.0%). They also evenly considered diversity in professional fields and experience, composing the group of 6 with legal backgrounds such as lawyers and legal scriveners, 2 with tax and accounting experience, 8 with technical experience in civil engineering, architecture, and information processing, 6 with experience in health, welfare, and women's fields, 5 with civil society and other experience, and 8 with finance, audit, and administrative public service experience.

Unlike the term-based public officials who are citizen audit ombudsmen, the participation ombudsmen are non-standing commissioned members who participate in the committee’s tasks such as audits, grievance handling, and monitoring and evaluating Seoul’s public projects. Last year, the 35 participation ombudsmen attended 360 public project contract processes, participated in 19 focused public project monitoring activities, served as jurors in six grievance juries, and supported four audit processes.

Park Geun-yong, Chairperson of the Seoul Citizens' Audit Ombudsman Committee, said, "We appreciate many people from various sectors of society responding to the open recruitment and recommendation process for participation ombudsmen," adding, "We will support the participation ombudsmen to be more involved in improving Seoul’s administration from the citizens’ perspective."

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