Seoul District Mayors Criticize Return to Authoritarian Administration in Seoul City

Seoul District Mayors Association President Lee Sung, "Firmly Rejects Information Gathering Equivalent to Civilian Surveillance",
"It's Time to End Authoritarian Administration That Boasts with Autonomous District Budgets"

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] The Seoul Metropolitan Council of District Mayors (Chairman Lee Seong, Mayor of Guro District) held a press conference at 2 p.m. on the 7th in the Seoul City briefing room, expressing deep concerns about Seoul City's indiscriminate information collection and the diversion of district budgets.

Recently, Seoul City requested the districts to submit materials related to the Innovation Education District project that had been promoted so far, requiring the names and profiles of all participating organizations, the list and resumes of instructors, and even lecture notes.

However, the controversy arose as the request included the names of students and parents participating in the subcommittees, as well as the resumes and lecture notes of participating instructors, in an all-encompassing manner.

In the statement, it was criticized that Seoul City, which has an obligation to protect personal information for citizen safety, demanded student lists and lecture notes despite potential violations of the Personal Information Protection Act and Copyright Act, and even made sudden submission requests via the responsible person's email without official document format, likening it to civilian surveillance during the military dictatorship era.

Chairman Lee Seong of the council asked, “Why does Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Seoul City need the personal information of students and parents participating in after-school club activities, hobby activities, career exploration, and environmental conservation activities?” He added, “The council firmly refuses the surveillance-style data requests that even intelligence agencies did not openly collect in the past.”

He also pointed out problems with Seoul City's recent policy proposal to the districts for the special issuance of ‘Special Support Vouchers for Commercial District Recovery.’ While fully agreeing with the purpose of the project, he raised concerns about the budget source and the lack of detailed planning.

First, the ‘Special Adjustment Grants’ mentioned as the funding source are originally district budgets; Seoul City only plays a distribution role, and the budgets have been used for district-specific urgent projects. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, districts applied for emergency budget allocations to address previously delayed civil complaints, but Seoul City ignored these without special reasons and recently notified that the funds would be allocated to the special issuance of vouchers, which was problematic.

The council pointed out, “If Seoul City is sincere about revitalizing local commercial districts, it should organize the budget entirely from city funds rather than boasting with district budgets.”

Participants agreed that while the budget source is an issue, the more significant problem is the poor planning. Seoul City proposed the special issuance of ‘Special Support Vouchers for Commercial District Recovery’ but stipulated that issuance be limited to the ‘one-third administrative neighborhoods’ with large loss scales per district. However, regardless of the average loss per neighborhood, this discriminates against small business owners struggling to maintain their livelihoods immediately, ultimately fostering resident conflicts and resulting in immature administration.

The council stated, “We cannot agree to immature policies that promote division and conflict during these difficult times,” and if the project proceeds, they plan to expand usage to all neighborhoods rather than following Seoul City's standard limiting it to ‘one-third or less administrative neighborhoods.’

Furthermore, participants raised their voices, saying, “We want ‘additive politics’ of coexistence and harmony,” and “In this serious time when new variants emerge and confirmed cases increase, ‘subtractive politics’ that divide and cause conflict have no place.”

The statement was issued jointly by the 23 district mayors of Seoul Metropolitan City, excluding Jongno and Seocho districts under acting authority. The press conference was attended by Chairman Lee Seong (Mayor of Guro District), Secretary-General Park Seong-su (Mayor of Songpa District), and a total of 10 district mayors.

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Full text of the statement below

Position of the Seoul Metropolitan District Mayors on Seoul City Returning to an Authoritarian Era

Seoul City must immediately stop its past authoritarian administrative operations.

Recently, Seoul City requested the education departments of each district to submit materials related to the Innovation Education District project promoted so far. In this process, they demanded the names of all organizations participating in innovation education, representatives by subcommittee, the names and resumes of participating instructors, lecture plans or teaching materials, and even the lists of parents and students participating in the subcommittees. We express deep concern that Seoul City's behavior is no different from civilian surveillance during the military dictatorship era.

Setting aside potential violations of the Personal Information Protection Act or Copyright Act, it is questionable whether we are living in 21st-century Korea when a public institution, which should at least comply with minimal information protection obligations for citizen safety, boldly demands data submission via the responsible person's email without even an official document format.

The Seoul-type Innovation Education District project has been implemented since 2015 with the purpose of supporting education beyond political parties and factions through cooperation among citizens, government, and academia for the children who are the future leaders. This has been operated through agreements involving the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, 25 districts, and Seoul City as a joint entity.

Despite the Innovation Education District project being recognized as a model case leading nationwide expansion, Seoul City plans to cut nearly half of the related budget for next year. There are even concerns that indiscriminate civilian surveillance is being conducted to find grounds for budget cuts.

Why is it necessary to collect personal information of students and parents participating in after-school club activities, hobby activities, career exploration, environmental conservation activities, and reading clubs through the Innovation Education District project?

Village teachers and assistant teachers in arts, sports, and culture involved in the Innovation Education District project are residents who volunteer their talents while receiving small instructor fees, each with their own professions such as full-time painters, musicians, and athletes. Why is their list necessary?

The execution results of the Innovation Education District project are submitted to Seoul City in relatively detailed form every year, and existing materials are sufficient to understand the projects being conducted.

We firmly reject surveillance-style data requests that even intelligence agencies did not openly collect in the past.

Seoul City's authoritarian administrative operation does not end here.

Recently, Seoul City notified districts to specially issue ‘Special Support Vouchers for Commercial District Recovery’ usable in one-third of administrative neighborhoods within the district using special adjustment grants. This is a policy to support small business owners suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic and is welcome.

However, there are hidden problems. First, ‘special adjustment grants’ are district budgets, and Seoul City is only designated to adjust and distribute the budget. If Seoul City is sincere about revitalizing local commercial districts, it should organize the budget entirely from city funds rather than boasting with district budgets. As a result, citizens waiting for emergency budget allocations for urgent projects per district are again put in a regrettable situation.

While we agree with the purpose, we cannot agree with the Seoul mayor arbitrarily designating the use of district budgets without consultation and boasting about it.

The more serious problem is that Seoul City's ‘one-third or less administrative neighborhood’ criterion is unclear. It means issuing vouchers only within the one-third administrative neighborhoods with large loss scales per district, but even if the loss scale is close to average, the circumstances of each business differ. Regulating usage only in specific administrative neighborhoods amid many small business owners struggling to maintain their livelihoods regardless of the average causes another form of discrimination and only fuels conflicts among neighbors.

Therefore, all Seoul district mayors have decided to issue the ‘Special Support Vouchers for Commercial District Recovery’ considering the general purpose but not to follow Seoul City's ‘one-third or less’ criterion. We cannot agree to immature policies that promote division and conflict during these difficult times.

Since Mayor Oh Se-hoon's inauguration, Seoul City has been regressing to the authoritarian era. It cut budgets for resident autonomy and public-private cooperation projects that form the foundation of grassroots democracy, and now indiscriminately collects private information of civilians to find grounds for innovation education budget cuts. It also boasts with district budgets without city funds while causing division and conflict.

All Seoul district mayors want ‘additive politics’ of coexistence and harmony. In this serious time when new variants emerge and confirmed cases increase, ‘subtractive politics’ that divide and cause conflict have no place. We strongly urge Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Seoul City to actively engage in coexistence and cooperation for citizen happiness.

December 7, 2021

Seoul Metropolitan Council of District Mayors

Jung-gu Mayor Seo Yang-ho, Yongsan-gu Mayor Seong Jang-hyun, Seongdong-gu Mayor Jung Won-oh, Gwangjin-gu Mayor Kim Seon-gap, Dongdaemun-gu Mayor Yoo Deok-yeol, Jungnang-gu Mayor Ryu Kyung-gi, Seongbuk-gu Mayor Lee Seung-ro, Gangbuk-gu Mayor Park Gyeom-su, Dobong-gu Mayor Lee Dong-jin, Nowon-gu Mayor Oh Seung-rok, Eunpyeong-gu Mayor Kim Mi-kyung, Seodaemun-gu Mayor Moon Seok-jin, Mapo-gu Mayor Yoo Dong-gyun, Yangcheon-gu Mayor Kim Soo-young, Gangseo-gu Mayor Noh Hyun-song, Guro-gu Mayor Lee Seong, Geumcheon-gu Mayor Yoo Seong-hoon, Yeongdeungpo-gu Mayor Chae Hyun-il, Dongjak-gu Mayor Lee Chang-woo, Gwanak-gu Mayor Park Jun-hee, Gangnam-gu Mayor Jung Soon-gyun, Songpa-gu Mayor Park Seong-su, Gangdong-gu Mayor Lee Jeong-hoon

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