"Unified message management role"
The Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City is creating a new strategic communications chief position to oversee policy messaging and expanding the mayor's senior advisory staff to seven.
The city announced Friday that it had published a proposed partial amendment to the enforcement rules of its administrative organization ordinance, adding "public relations" as a designated area of policy advisory support.
The new strategic communications chief — a Grade 3-equivalent position to be filled on a fixed-term specialist contract — will be added to the existing six advisory posts, which include chiefs for overall policy, civic sovereignty, social culture and green city affairs, as well as an external communications aide and a special adviser, bringing the total to seven.
The combined figure matches the total that existed before the merger: the former Gwangju city government operated four fixed-term policy advisory posts, including a policy adviser, while the former South Jeolla Province had three, including a political affairs senior aide.
However, concerns have been raised about potential overlap, as a spokesperson and a press officer already handle media relations and city communications, and the mayor's advisory structure already includes a separate external communications aide and a special adviser for external affairs.
On this, the city said the strategic communications chief would not handle direct media inquiries the way a spokesperson does, but would instead coordinate the mayor's policy direction and the intent behind his remarks to ensure a consistent message is conveyed on key issues.
The city also said a recent pattern of the mayor's remarks being interpreted differently from their intended meaning had been a factor behind the decision to create the post.
In practice, a gap has emerged between Mayor Min's intentions and how his words are received publicly. An order to review urban railway Line 2 sparked controversy over a full-scale re-examination, and a scene in which he asked a staff member why they were smiling during an executive meeting was perceived as a public reprimand.
An official close to Mayor Min said the new post was needed because "there have been some shortcomings in conveying the mayor's message accurately, and we felt it was necessary to create a communications chief to oversee message delivery."
The creation of the strategic communications chief position is an enforcement-rule amendment and does not require a separate vote by the city council.
However, scrutiny is expected over who is appointed to the role and through what process, given that earlier appointments — including the selection of the political affairs deputy mayor and senior staff — drew criticism over the hiring of insiders and transition-team figures.
kkm9971@heraldcorp.com
