Senior city hall department heads reassigned to neighborhood offices; graduates of mayor's high school gain key posts
Suncheon Mayor Son Hun-mo, a lawyer who took office as the city's ninth directly elected mayor, described his first regular personnel reshuffle as a "balanced appointment," but the move has drawn criticism from inside and outside city hall.
According to the city on Friday, Son announced the reshuffle under the guiding principles of "fairness and balance" and "expertise and organizational stability." Observers note, however, that officials who had been favored under his predecessor, former Mayor No Gwan-gyu, were conspicuously weeded out.
Among the reshuffle's defining features: a large number of civil servants seconded to Son's mayoral transition committee were promoted or moved to more senior posts, and officials who attended the same high school as Assembly member Kim Moon-su — a known rival of No — were placed in key departments.
The influence of Maesan High School graduates, who had flourished under No, visibly shrank, while alumni of Suncheon High School — Son's own alma mater — secured prominent positions, marking a clear shift in the patronage network.
Some officials who had applied for early retirement to signal their dissatisfaction with No's personnel decisions, only to withdraw those applications once the political winds changed, were passed over in this round. Attention now turns to whether they will be brought in after a planned organizational restructuring in October.
A number of revolving-door appointments have also been observed.
One official who had overseen the Yeonhyang-dong public resource facility — a waste incinerator that No had aggressively pushed through — and who had driven that policy forward was brought back into a relevant role. The move raises questions about whether Son, who pledged to scrap the incinerator project, will change course.
Another widely cited example of recycled appointments is the reassignment of a veteran administrative officer with more than 20 years exclusively in public relations back to the main city hall building, where he was again given communications duties.
Two administrative officers — section chiefs considered frontrunners under No for a push to promote officials in their 40s — were demoted to neighborhood office posts. Both are originally from Yeosu but had settled in Suncheon and built reputations for strong job performance.
City hall employs a number of married couples and siblings among its civil servant staff. In some cases, both members of a family unit were simultaneously reassigned to marginal posts, apparently without any effort to stagger or balance the moves.
Most of the department heads who had supported No's initiative to relocate Yeosu MBC's operations to Suncheon were replaced, signaling a possible shift in the city's stance on that project.
At least one official with a strong performance record was passed over again, reportedly because of belonging to a small job classification. Despite Son's explanation of his appointment rationale, some within city hall say the reshuffle fell short of striking the right balance between seniority and merit-based selection.
Rumors have circulated around city hall about individuals who wielded influence over Son, who has limited administrative experience.
Whether Son will assert firmer control over the next round of appointments — expected alongside an organizational restructuring later this year — remains to be seen.
The reshuffle is a sweeping one, involving a total of 447 personnel moves: two promotions to the senior administrative grade, 50 promotions overall and 397 transfers.
Son addressed the reshuffle, saying: "In the legal profession, there is a principle of regional rotation — people switch posts every three years. But here, those assigned to outside agencies keep rotating outward and bearing the burden, while those at the main office accumulate good evaluations and hold the better positions. There was a need to change that." He added, "They say personnel decisions are everything, and since this was the first reshuffle since I took office, it was not easy to satisfy everyone."
parkds@heraldcorp.com
