Prolonged Vacancy of Gyeonggi Tourism Organization President Position Seems Inevitable

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Concerns are growing that the 'Hwang Kyo-ik incident' will lead to a prolonged vacancy in the position of president of the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization. If this happens, the major projects that the Tourism Organization has been promoting will inevitably face a 'red light.'

Earlier, Hwang Kyo-ik, the candidate for president of the Tourism Organization, voluntarily resigned on the 20th. Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province and the appointing authority, respected Hwang's decision and accepted it.

◆ Prolonged vacancy of the president position inevitable

Gyeonggi Province is under great pressure regarding the appointment of the next president of the Tourism Organization, as the selection process became a nationwide controversy during a politically sensitive period. This is why it will inevitably take time to find a suitable candidate.

A provincial official said, "This is the first time a presidential candidate has voluntarily withdrawn before the provincial council's confirmation hearing," adding, "There are no provisions in the Tourism Organization's internal regulations for cases where a candidate nominated by the final appointing authority, the Governor of Gyeonggi Province, resigns voluntarily after going through the executive recommendation committee, which is causing concern."

While in general employee recruitment, the opportunity goes to the next candidate in line, this official explained that applying this standard to the president recruitment is not appropriate.

As a result, the current emphasis is on 're-announcing the president recruitment.' It is reported that the province and the organization have held internal meetings and begun legal review work for re-announcing the president recruitment.

Accordingly, the 'presidential vacancy' that has continued since the end of last year is expected to last even longer. Previously, Yoo Dong-gyu, the former president whose term was originally until September this year, resigned mid-term in December last year for personal reasons.

Earlier, Gyeonggi Province conducted a two-week recruitment for the president of the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization starting from the 19th of last month. A total of eight people applied, and four of them reportedly underwent interviews. Including Hwang, three candidates passed the interview, and Lee Jae-myung, the appointing authority, nominated Hwang as the final candidate.

◆ Major project promotion 'stalled'

Currently, the Tourism Organization is processing procedures such as accepting Hwang's resignation letter and is consulting with Gyeonggi Province on whether to appoint a successor. However, the consensus is that the president appointment is unlikely to proceed early due to the schedule of next year's presidential primary and local elections.

For this reason, voices within the Tourism Organization are expressing concern about project setbacks due to the long-term absence of a president.

The 'Gyeonggi Travel Platform Project,' which the Tourism Organization has been promoting since this year, was proactively led by former president Yoo from March to June last year, coordinating with 31 cities and counties in the province to prepare for COVID-19 and other factors. However, after Yoo suddenly stepped down in December last year, the project has only been progressing at a practical level.

Moreover, it is difficult to prepare various policies or support measures to revitalize the tourism industry and tourist sites in the province, which have been pushed to the brink due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. Gyeonggi Province has the largest number of tourism businesses and tourist sites nationwide and has suffered significant damage from COVID-19.

A Tourism Organization official expressed concern, saying, "Whether there is a president or not inevitably makes a difference in the direction and momentum of projects," adding, "This is why employees inside the Tourism Organization are unsettled and why there is external concern. With next year's local elections approaching, the presidential vacancy situation is likely to last longer than expected."

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