"I will complete 'Seocho's Golden Era 2' through wholehearted administration."
Seocho-gu ranked first among Seoul's 25 autonomous districts in a campaign pledge fulfillment assessment conducted in May by the National Local Government Monitor of the Korea Federation of Legal Consumers. Evaluated across 77 pledges from the eighth elected term, the district scored 71.30 points — well above the national average of 63.58 points for basic local governments. Seocho-gu residents delivered their verdict on that record through the June 3 local elections, re-electing District Mayor Jeon Sung-su with the highest voter turnout among Seoul's autonomous districts and the highest vote share among Seoul district mayors. "I want to top the pledge fulfillment rankings again four years from now," Jeon said. The Herald Business met with Jeon on Wednesday to hear his blueprint for the ninth elected term. "The next four years will be a time of urban transformation — turning the future blueprint we drew for Seocho into changes that residents can actually feel," he said. The following is an edited transcript of the interview.
— You won re-election. What does it mean to you?
"I believe it reflects residents' desire for both an assessment of the past four years and a demand for greater, more visible change in Seocho. I take that as a solemn mandate. I will not lose sight of my original intentions, but I will move faster on execution and prove my promises through results. During the campaign I heard that Seocho-gu had ranked first in Seoul for pledge fulfillment — that was a great gift to me. I want to be first again in the pledge fulfillment assessment four years from now."
— Reconstruction was the defining issue of this election. Your first signed order was also the 'mobile reconstruction rapid support team.'
"During the campaign, residents raised two things: a call to speed up reconstruction, and views on the internal situation within the People Power Party. The district mayor's job is to respond to that call. I worked hard on fast-tracking reconstruction over the past four years, and in the ninth term I will accelerate further. As I returned to work after the election, I prepared the mobile reconstruction rapid support team so it could be signed off immediately. The team pool has 115 members in total, including lawyers, architects, accountants, appraisers and tax accountants. Every redevelopment site stalls for different reasons. Bangbae District 14 and Bangbae District 5 started their redevelopment projects around the same time — District 5 is set to open for move-in next month, while District 14 has not even broken ground yet. I will address each site individually and push for speed."
— Seocho-gu received a presidential commendation at the 15th Population Day ceremony in the pregnancy, childbirth and child-rearing category.
"We are the only autonomous district in Seoul to receive that award. Among Seocho-gu's low birth rate response projects, 11 were the first of their kind nationwide. Through the maternal and newborn health management service certification system — introduced in 2020 as a national first — we have raised the expertise of health managers and the quality of postnatal care services. We were also the first in the country to introduce the Seocho child-minder service in 2010, the grandparent child-minder service in 2011 and the 119 child-minder service in 2019. There is also a paternity leave incentive grant. In 2019 we became the first in the nation to introduce the Seocho-type shared daycare center model, which reduces the gap between different types of childcare facilities — a system in which public, private and home-based daycare centers share childcare resources and programs. People Power Party lawmaker Cho Eun-hee started it during her time as Seocho-gu district mayor, and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon took it up and expanded it into a Seoul-wide model."
— Do you have a differentiated approach to addressing the low birth rate?
"During the campaign, a dual-income parent told me that the elementary school after-care center's vacation-period childcare service only runs until 6 p.m., but they do not get off work until after 6. During regular school periods it runs until 7 p.m. — it had been cut by an hour during vacations. When I returned to work on June 4, I reviewed the operating conditions and demand at centers across the district. Where there was demand for extended care, I extended operating hours to 7 p.m. It is nothing grand. Policy has to be supplied when parents need it. Child-rearing, pregnancy and childbirth require a delicate, attentive eye. I plan to establish Seocho-type emergency childcare centers by zone on a phased basis, so that children can be looked after even when a caregiving gap arises due to weekend work, business trips or illness. Starting with a pilot operation of one center next year, we will expand to a total of four centers across all zones by 2030. I will also raise the quality of childcare. The participation rate among daycare centers in the district in the Seocho-type shared daycare center model — which integrates three to seven public, private and home-based centers into a single community — currently stands at 92 percent. In the ninth term I will develop it into 'Seocho premium childcare' and raise that figure to 100 percent by 2028."
— There are several major development projects, including the underground routing of the Gyeongbu arterial road and Banpo-daero.
"The next four years will be a time of urban transformation — turning the future blueprint for Seocho drawn up in the eighth term into changes that residents can actually feel. The underground routing of the Gyeongbu arterial road and Banpo-daero, the mixed-use redevelopment of the Seocho-gu district hall, and other large-scale transport and mixed-use development projects are the core big projects that will reshape Seocho's future spatial structure and urban competitiveness. Working with the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the central government and relevant agencies, I will sharply raise the execution capacity and pace of these projects."
— What is the current status of the development projects?
"The underground routing project for the Gyeongbu arterial road and Banpo-daero is currently undergoing a private investment feasibility review by the Korea Development Institute. It has been under review for about one year and eight months, and results are expected in December. The mixed-use redevelopment of the Seocho-gu district hall will transform the area around Yangjae Station into a future-oriented mixed-use urban hub integrating transport, administrative and industrial functions. A private investment feasibility review request was submitted to the Korea Development Institute last month, and we expect it to clear within a year. The target is to break ground in 2029 and complete construction in 2032. There is also development of the Lotte Chilsung, Lion Sewing Machine and Kolon sites. The fastest-moving of these is currently the Kolon site — it is over the final hurdle. The Lion Sewing Machine site was recently selected as a pre-negotiation target. On the Lotte Chilsung site, Lotte Group appears to have already drawn up a rough plan. The Express Bus Terminal development held its pre-negotiation kickoff at the end of last year, and we expect to conclude pre-negotiations within the year."
— What is your management direction for the ninth elected term?
"The next four years will build on the achievements of the eighth term and raise both the pace and the completeness of change. That change will be driven by wholehearted administration — centered on residents, on the ground and on results. Wholehearted administration starts with residents. I will measure the outcomes of governance not by the number of projects undertaken, but by how much more convenient and happy residents' lives have become. Building on the achievements of the eighth term and adding the execution capacity and completeness of the ninth, I will complete 'Seocho's Golden Era 2' — so that four years from now, residents can say with confidence: Seocho has truly changed."
cook@heraldcorp.com
