Seongdong-gu Kicks Off New Administration With Fast-Track Redevelopment Push

Seoul's Seongdong-gu said Yu Bo-hwa will begin her tenure as district mayor on Tuesday by signing an order to establish a fast-track redevelopment and reconstruction task force — her first official act as the district's ninth directly elected mayor.

Yu will sign the task force order as the first directive of the new administration on Tuesday morning, formally launching her term. The decision reflects a pledge to residents who have long awaited faster progress on urban renewal projects and signals her intent to actively address the complex and varied demands surrounding redevelopment.

The task force will serve as the central command for redevelopment and reconstruction projects across the district. It will operate an advisory committee of outside experts in urban planning and redevelopment, and will provide site-specific consulting and mediation of resident disputes to keep projects moving at pace.

The district will also rename its existing residential redevelopment division the "Rapid Redevelopment Promotion Division" and significantly expand its staffing, growing from four teams to six. The restructuring is intended to deliver more responsive, hands-on administrative services that residents can feel directly.

The task force is expected to act as a mediator at conflict-prone project sites and offer tailored consulting to associations struggling with operations, cutting unnecessary administrative steps and accelerating the overall pace of redevelopment.

Later Tuesday, an inauguration ceremony for the ninth directly elected administration will be held at 2 p.m. in the grand hall on the third floor of the Seongdong-gu district office. Themed "Unity and Harmony Among Residents," the event will be modest yet dignified and broadcast live via IPTV for both in-person and online audiences.

A highlight of the ceremony will be a "Resident Representative Appointment Ceremony." Seventeen pre-selected residents from across the community will each attach a handwritten appointment certificate to a model map of Seongdong-gu. Yu will affix the final piece to complete the "unified Seongdong-gu" — a performance symbolizing that the true authority of the ninth administration rests with its residents and that the district will be built together with them.

In her inaugural address, Yu plans to outline the key policy directions for the new administration and deliver a message of gratitude to residents and a call for a new leap forward.

"The first step of the ninth administration begins with keeping our promises to residents," Yu said. "Starting with the fast-track redevelopment and reconstruction order — the first thing I signed — I will push forward policies that residents can feel are making a real difference, and build a Seongdong that people will want to call home for life, with residents' lives always coming first."