Why Are Seoul District Mayors Increasingly Worried Three Months Before the June 1 Local Elections?

Elections Are a Comprehensive Evaluation of the Term, with Predictions That Especially Group Leaders Who Made Employees Struggle Will Face Difficult Times... Negative Rumors About Group Leaders' Integrity and Cases That Made Employees Struggle Are Expected to Have Increasingly Adverse Influence

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] With the March 9 presidential election just 11 days away, the June 1 local elections have also swiftly approached, now only three months away.

Accordingly, not only the candidates for Seoul mayor in the June 1 local elections but also the incumbent heads of the 25 districts of Seoul who plan to run are entering a nerve-wracking period day by day.

The elections for the 25 district heads of Seoul represent a comprehensive evaluation of the past 4 or 8 years, so the incumbent district heads face the issue of how residents will assess them.

In particular, the evaluation of the district heads by their district office employees will have a decisive impact, and rumors are already circulating that some district heads are trembling.

Although district office employees are subordinates of the district heads, they are also voters residing in the area, so their influence before the election can be said to be truly decisive.

Because of this, it will not be easy for district heads who have made their employees suffer over the past four years to even pass the party nomination hurdle. Several district heads in Seoul are representative cases. There are rumors about cases where employees were sued or executives were made to suffer, and some district heads are worried whether they can pass through this 'tunnel of hardship.'

The district head is a powerful position overseeing about 1,200 to 1,500 employees. This is because they hold not only personnel authority over these employees but also control a massive project budget over four years.

Due to this influence, if they have made employees suffer during their tenure, it could deal a fatal blow in the election.

Before elections, it is true that various rumors such as "someone is corrupt" or "someone made others suffer" circulate.

As the proverb goes, "A rumor without feet travels a thousand miles," various negative rumors spread first and worsen local public opinion.

This public opinion then reaches the central party, resulting in nomination failures or defeats in the general election. There is a high possibility that cases like the fourth-term A district head and the sixth-term B district head, who failed to receive nominations and ran as independents and subsequently fell, will be repeated this time as well.

Because of this, public relations personnel sometimes make unseen efforts to reduce bad rumors about district heads.

Since the election is an evaluation of the entire previous term, it is an especially difficult process.

A Seoul metropolitan district official said, "It is true that the tension among district heads is rising as the election approaches," adding, "So if they had done well all along, what good would worrying now do?"

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