Seoul City Selected as 'CityNet' President City... Representing 171 Member Cities

Reelection of President City at the General Assembly in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia... Third Consecutive Term, 4-Year Term Until 2026

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Seoul City announced on the 22nd that it has been re-elected as the chair city at the 9th General Assembly of CITYNET, an Asia-Pacific regional international network consisting of 171 member cities, organizations, and companies, held locally in Kuala Lumpur.

Seoul was first elected as the chair city at the 7th Seoul General Assembly in 2013, re-elected at the 8th General Assembly in Colombo (Sri Lanka) in 2017, and this marks the third term. The term lasts four years, with Seoul serving as the chair city until 2026.

At the General Assembly, Han Je-hyun, the 2nd Deputy Mayor for Administration, attended on behalf of Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who could not attend due to domestic issues, expressed Seoul’s intention to run for the chair city, and Seoul’s re-election was finalized in the chair city election held during the assembly.

In his candidacy speech, Deputy Mayor Han emphasized that “unity among all members is crucial to overcome economic, social, and cultural challenges faced during the internationalization process and to achieve rapid urban recovery after COVID-19.” He also introduced Seoul’s efforts to develop CITYNET into a leading international network in the Asia-Pacific region.

Kim Young-hwan, Director of Economic and Job Planning, who accompanied the Deputy Mayor, attended the individual panel discussion held in the afternoon of the General Assembly as Seoul’s representative and presented Seoul’s efforts toward the Sustainable Development Goals.

Since the launch of the Sustainable Development Committee in 2013, Seoul has introduced its activities for the Sustainable Development Goals, including the establishment of Seoul’s Sustainable Development Goals in 2017, and the ‘Global Cities Policy Sharing Online Platform,’ a policy-sharing system jointly developed with CITYNET and UNESCAP. Currently, the online platform hosts and publicly shares a database of approximately 410 excellent policies from CITYNET member cities.

Deputy Mayor Han Je-hyun stated, “Seoul has been an initial member of CITYNET, which is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, and has strived to foster cooperative relationships among Asia-Pacific cities. Based on CITYNET’s operational achievements so far, Seoul will continue to contribute to its growth as an internationally influential network.”

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