Organizational reshuffle and follow-up personnel moves expected by end of June
Senior Grade 1 officials at the Seoul Metropolitan Government — including the heads of the economic, welfare, transportation, housing and disaster safety bureaus, as well as the chief of the Arisu waterworks authority — have submitted their resignations en masse, it has been confirmed.
The city received the resignations through the head of the administrative bureau on Friday afternoon, June 5.
The move is part of Mayor Oh Se-hoon's push to revamp the organization and signal a fresh start ahead of the launch of his ninth elected term. Oh won the June 3 local election to become the first Seoul mayor in history elected to a fifth term. It is common practice in local governments for senior officials to submit collective resignations before a leader's reelection or an organizational restructuring. With Oh set to lead the city for another four years, the officials are widely seen as stepping aside to ease the burden of building a new administrative framework. Some of those who submitted resignations Friday may move on to head Seoul city-affiliated agencies, serve as executives at public institutions, or take up research professorships at the University of Seoul.
The city is expected to carry out a large-scale round of promotions and transfers in the coming days. A number of Grade 2 bureau-level officials are already being mentioned as candidates for promotion to Grade 1, and competition for positions within the city government is expected to intensify.
Seoul plans to complete its organizational restructuring and follow-up personnel appointments by the end of this month, ahead of the formal launch of the ninth elected term on July 1. "The Grade 1 officials submitted their resignations en masse as a way to refresh the organizational atmosphere ahead of the new term," one senior Grade 1 city official said. Observers inside and outside city hall say the move goes beyond routine personnel procedure and marks the starting point of a sweeping personnel overhaul aimed at establishing a new direction for city governance and a fresh framework for driving key policies.
seouldream01@heraldcorp.com
