Who Are the Seoul City Officials Connected to Song Young-gil, Leader of the Democratic Party?... Former and Current Vice Mayors Jin Hee-seon and Ryu Hun

Jin Heeseon, Former Administrative Deputy Mayor, Indirectly Supports Election as Close Alumni of Gwangju Daedong High School and Yonsei University with Ryu Hun, Current Administrative Deputy Mayor Nominee; Song Younggil, Party Leader, from Goheung; Oh Seungrok, Nowon District Mayor, Ryu Bohwa, Seongdong District Deputy Mayor, and Ryu Jehwan, Former Dongjak District Deputy Mayor, Also Well Acquainted with Leader Song

Jin Hee-seon, former Deputy Mayor for Administration II of Seoul

Ryu Hoon, Nominee for Deputy Mayor of Administration 2, Seoul Metropolitan Government

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] On the 2nd, the Democratic Party of Korea held a party convention to select the party leader and elected five-term lawmaker Song Young-gil.

Newly appointed leader Song, a former student council president at Yonsei University and a former activist, is regarded within the party as a reasonable figure capable of dialogue, having served as mayor of Incheon Metropolitan City. Attention is focused on how well he will address the sharp public sentiment revealed in the April 7 by-election.

In particular, it is evaluated that the success or failure of next year's presidential election could hinge on whether he can alleviate the public's suffering caused by real estate taxation and other issues, making Song's burden even heavier.

With the Democratic Party holding a massive 174 seats, the party's strong progressive activist background requires more than ever policy flexibility to embrace the livelihood of ordinary citizens and to incorporate centrist forces.

Amid this, interest is gathering around high-ranking current and former Seoul city officials who have ties with leader Song Young-gil.

First, Jin Hee-seon, former Deputy Mayor for Administration 2 of Seoul and a close friend and classmate of Song from Gwangju Daedong High School and Yonsei University, showed the brightest expression after Song's election announcement.

Former Deputy Mayor Jin, who passed the 23rd (1987) technical civil service exam, served as Seoul City’s Urban Management Director, Housing Regeneration Policy Officer, and Housing and Architecture Bureau Chief, and from January 2015 worked as the head of the Urban Regeneration Headquarters, making her one of Seoul’s top experts in housing and real estate.

After serving as the head of housing, urban planning, and road sectors in Seoul for two years, she stepped down in July last year and is currently an adjunct professor at her alma mater, Yonsei University.

While lecturing to juniors and writing books related to real estate, she is known to have quietly provided policy advice to her close friend, lawmaker Song Young-gil, when he declared his candidacy for party leader.

In a phone interview with reporters on the day, former Deputy Mayor Jin expressed hope, saying, “With Song’s election, the party will have more reasonable alternatives and be able to connect with the people.”

Although Jin majored in architectural engineering, she is highly regarded among Seoul city officials for her humanities knowledge and expertise.

Alongside her, Ryu Hoon, the nominee for Seoul City Deputy Mayor for Administration 2, also has ties with leader Song. Both share the common origin of Goheung, Jeollanam-do.

Deputy Mayor nominee Ryu, appointed alongside Mayor Oh Se-hoon, is working tirelessly through the night to promote Seoul’s reconstruction projects and to ease the Han River skyline height limit (maximum 35 floors). He appears highly hopeful as his hometown native, lawmaker Song, has become the new leader of the ruling party.

Ryu graduated from Suncheon High School and Seoul National University’s Department of Architecture, passed the technical civil service exam, and has held positions such as Director of Urban Planning, Head of Housing and Architecture Headquarters, and Director of Urban Regeneration in Seoul.

Notably, just before his retirement, Ryu was promoted to Deputy Mayor for Administration 2 of Seoul, earning a reputation as a bureaucrat with excellent fortune.

Among Seoul district mayors, Oh Seung-rok, mayor of Nowon District, is also from Goheung and a Yonsei University alumnus, thus having ties with leader Song.

However, as Mayor Oh is a local district lawmaker and senior to Song at Yonsei University, there seemed to be limitations in assisting Song’s leadership due to the candidacy of lawmaker Woo Won-shik for party leader.

Additionally, Ryu Bo-hwa, Deputy Mayor of Seongdong District, who served as head of Seoul’s personnel planning team and administration department, is known as a “connector” and a close junior from Song’s hometown, often meeting for meals.

Former Deputy Mayor of Dongjak District, Ryu Je-hwan, is also reported to have a close relationship with leader Song as a senior and junior from their hometown.

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