Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City has appointed Bae Mi-kyung, former chief executive of Thekingpin Co., as its first open-recruitment spokesperson.
The city presented Bae with her appointment certificate Monday morning at a reception room on the third floor of Gwangju City Hall.
The mayor personally conferred the certificate, with the administrative vice mayor, the safety and livelihood vice mayor, and the chief of staff in attendance.
Bae is the first open-recruitment spokesperson since the Jeonnam-Gwangju integration, holding the rank of local deputy commissioner (open-recruitment position No. 3).
Her term runs from Monday through Sept. 13, 2028, and may be extended within a five-year limit.
The spokesperson is responsible for drawing up and overseeing the city's overall communications plan, handling media relations and briefings, managing policy messaging, leading crisis communications, and developing external public relations strategies — coordinating the full range of the city's public outreach.
Bae earned a bachelor's and master's degree in journalism and broadcasting, as well as a doctorate in media studies, from Chonnam National University.
She previously served as a public relations specialist at the Office for Government Policy Coordination's Southwest Investment Promotion Task Force, head of the planning and public relations team at the Gwangju Metropolitan City urban marketing division, and public affairs officer for the 2015 Gwangju Summer Universiade organizing committee, before serving as a visiting professor at Honam University. She has been chief executive of Thekingpin Co. since 2017.
sij@heraldcorp.com
