Jongno-gu's First Three-Term 'Efficient' Mayor Kim Young-jong Resigns to Run for National Assembly

District Mayor Kim Young-jong stated, "Now, I intend to contribute to creating a world where the quality of life for the people is improved and everyone can live happily together."

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Kim Young-jong, Mayor of Jongno District, submitted his resignation letter to the Jongno District Council on October 29 to run in the by-election for the National Assembly member of Jongno District, which will be held together with the 20th presidential election on March 9 next year.

Mayor Kim is the first three-term mayor of Jongno District, having been elected three times by local residents from the 5th to the 7th term of direct elections since 2010.

As an architect and urban planning expert, Mayor Kim demonstrated outstanding administrative capabilities by preserving the identity of Jongno’s history and cultural arts, and managing the city sustainably and safely, befitting an urban specialist.

Starting from the 5th term of direct elections, Mayor Kim has worked to create a "people-centered premium city Jongno." He promoted major projects that have been benchmarked nationwide, such as creating an underground pedestrian environment connecting large buildings like KT, Daelim Building, and Gran Seoul from Jonggak Station to Gwanghwamun Station with a total private investment of 58.6 billion KRW, and building the Jongno Disabled Welfare Center in cooperation with the Purme Foundation through Korea’s first public-private partnership method, as well as the city emptying project.

He also established cultural facilities representing Jongno District, such as the Yun Dong-ju Literature Museum, Park No-su Art Museum, and Cheongun Literature Library, and greatly contributed to inheriting and developing Korean "Han (韓) culture" including hanbok, hanok, Korean cuisine, Hangul, hanji, and traditional Korean music, along with the Jongno Hanbok Festival, to preserve Jongno’s identity as the center of tradition and cultural arts.

Additionally, he worked to lead the construction of the "Lee Kun-hee Donation Hall" harmonized with a forest park on the Songhyeon-dong site, and after completing the design competition for the new Jongno District Office building to replace the old one, preparations for the new office building are underway.

From the beginning of his term, he led fine dust reduction projects including road cleaning and indoor air quality improvement, striving to make Jongno a healthy and happy city for residents, as well as a tidy and safe city, achieving top results in various quality-of-life evaluations.

During his tenure, he also emphasized integrity to his staff and earned respect from employees as an "honest mayor."

Mayor Kim expressed, "I apologize to the residents for resigning before completing my term and thank everyone for their support so far." He added that, as he has worked hard for the residents of Jongno, he now intends to contribute to improving the quality of life for all citizens and creating a better world where people can live happily together in a better environment.

Mayor Kim has received many prestigious awards, including the 2019 11th Dasan Mokmin Grand Prize Presidential Award and being selected as an Honorary Architect by the Korea Institute of Architects in 2019. Notably, in 2021, he achieved the honor of winning the Presidential Award for the Korea Urban Award for eight consecutive years, the 2021 Regional Innovation Presidential Award, and the 2021 Korea Knowledge Award Presidential Award, becoming a triple winner of Presidential Awards and recognized by residents as a "competent local government head."

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