Final Check for the '4·7 By-Election'... Emergency Video Meeting Between Seoul City and 25 District Mayors

Seo Jeong-hyeop Acting Mayor Presides, 25 District Mayors Attend
Checks Preparation and Requests Cooperation for a Clean Election Free from COVID-19 Infection Risk and Fairness Concerns

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] With the ‘April 7 Seoul Special Mayoral By-election’ just a week away, the Seoul Metropolitan Government will hold an ‘Emergency Autonomous District Mayor Video Conference’ on the afternoon of the 31st at the new city hall’s video conference room. Acting Mayor Seo Jeong-hyeop will preside over the meeting, attended by the mayors of all 25 autonomous districts.

This meeting is an opportunity for Seoul City and the autonomous districts to once again share relevant information and review final preparations to ensure that the by-election is conducted as a clean election without any risk of COVID-19 infection or concerns about fairness.

Seoul City will share the current COVID-19 response status ahead of the by-election and the work plan to promote a fair and safe quarantine election with each autonomous district. Previously, Seoul City established and distributed a manual to all autonomous districts outlining key measures to ensure a safe election from COVID-19, including social distancing among voters, separation of movement paths for symptomatic individuals such as those with fever, preemptive COVID-19 testing for election and ballot counting staff, and management of movement paths for voters under self-quarantine on election day.

In particular, the principle of political neutrality for public officials as stipulated by the Public Official Election Act will be strictly upheld, and the fair execution of election support duties will be reaffirmed. Seoul City will share specific examples of election law violations, such as supporting particular candidates via SNS or sending work-related materials to candidates, and will urge thorough caution to ensure that the principles of a fair election are not compromised.

Meanwhile, Seoul City has arranged for city and district public officials as well as employees of investment and affiliated institutions to be granted one hour of paid leave to vote on early voting days and the main election day. This measure was implemented through consultations with relevant ministries to guarantee the constitutional right to vote.

Acting Mayor Seo Jeong-hyeop stated, “Given the daily average number of confirmed cases and the ongoing sporadic group infections, the situation is far more severe than during the last general election. I ask each autonomous district to tighten their quarantine measures once again and to meticulously manage everything from polling station disinfection to citizen behavior guidelines. Seoul City will do its utmost to ensure that this by-election is a clean election guaranteed by political neutrality and complete quarantine.”

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