New labor commission and audit integrity committee to be established; mayor's authority to be distributed for efficiency and fairness
Ulsan Mayor-elect Kim Sang-uk has outlined four priorities for restructuring the city administration under the 9th elected term: improving administrative efficiency, strengthening independence and integrity, reinforcing internal checks within the administration, and better reflecting the voices of citizens.
Kim held his first briefing Monday on the organizational overhaul, announcing plans to introduce consensus-based administrative bodies. He said he would abolish the existing position of special labor adviser and replace it with an independent, consensus-based Labor Commission. The move reflects his assessment that the adviser-centered structure had served mainly to reflect the mayor's own views and had proven inadequate for coordinating policy and addressing a range of labor issues.
Under the new structure, a labor policy team and a labor rights team will be established to handle labor policy and rights protection. The focus will be on ensuring that the benefits of the industrial transition to AI-driven transformation are distributed fairly.
The new commission will be headed by a Grade 4 labor commissioner and will operate through deliberation and consensus among its members, with the aim of gathering impartial and independent opinions.
"There were already organizations that reflected the business side, but mechanisms for incorporating the views of ordinary workers were lacking," Kim said. "The core idea is to build an independent consensus body focused on protecting workers' rights."
Kim also announced plans to overhaul the city's audit function. The existing auditor position under the administrative vice mayor will be abolished and replaced with an independent Audit and Integrity Committee reporting directly to — but independent of — the mayor. The change addresses longstanding criticism that the audit body had fallen short in terms of independence and effectiveness.
"It has not been easy for the existing audit office to scrutinize people close to the mayor, which limited our ability to conduct audits that meet citizens' expectations," Kim said. "We will establish a genuine standing audit system covering areas such as private contracts and licensing, so that the administration earns the public's trust."
The head of the Audit and Integrity Committee will be an open-position role at Grade 3 or 4, supported by dedicated teams covering audit coordination, facility audits, ethics and contract investigation. Kim also announced the creation of a fiscal planning office — overseeing budget, taxation and accounting — to build a more efficient fiscal management system, as well as a new industry promotion division to sharpen the city's focus on future strategic industries.
The first organizational restructuring proposal of the 9th elected term is set to be submitted to an extraordinary session of the city council next month, with implementation planned for late July following deliberation and a vote.
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