Yongin mayor bets again on parent outreach as signature political strategy

Yongin Special City Mayor Lee Sang-il made outreach to parents a cornerstone of his first term — a strategy widely credited with securing his re-election.

Lee held a three-hour meeting Tuesday at the international conference room of the Yongin Culture Center in Samga-dong, Cheoin-gu, sitting down with 74 parent representatives from all 34 elementary schools in the Cheoin area to discuss education issues at each school.

It was the first such meeting Lee has held with parents since taking office for his second term.

He plans to hold similar sessions with parent representatives from all 196 elementary, middle and high schools, two special schools and kindergartens in the city through November.

During his first term, Lee held 39 such meetings between 2023 and 2025 with principals and parent representatives from 193 elementary, middle and high schools and two special schools, and personally visited 86 sites to address complaints.

Through those sessions, the city collected 1,301 suggestions covering school commute safety and improvements to educational conditions. Of those, 753 — excluding items requiring long-term review or deemed difficult to implement — have been resolved or are being acted upon.

This year the city is allocating 98.9 billion won ($72.7 million) to education — the largest amount among all local governments nationwide — focusing on improving the learning environment for students who will lead Yongin's future.

"We are already in our third year of holding these meetings with local parents and principals, which began in a small auditorium at the Youth Future Foundation in 2023," Lee said. "In keeping with 'Yongin Renaissance 2.0,' the governing vision for my second term, I am especially glad to meet with you again here today."

"Many inconveniences from local schools have been raised at these meetings, and while some remain unresolved, we are holding this session to keep making progress," Lee said. "If the semiconductor industry boom continues, the city's fiscal position should improve, and it is my intention to lead city government with a commitment to bold investment — improving the educational environment for the students who will carry Yongin's future, and enriching the lives of all residents."

At the meeting, Lee introduced key policies for his second term under the theme "A Future Built Together with Citizens: Yongin Renaissance 2.0," reviewed suggestions submitted in advance by each school, and took questions from parents.

Parents raised 52 agenda items covering safety hazards on school commute routes and urgent improvements to educational facilities. Lee instructed city officials to address whatever could be resolved immediately and to work closely with relevant agencies — including the district education office and police — on matters requiring further consultation.

Requests to strengthen commute safety were the most common. Concerns raised included: additional drop-off and pick-up bays at Dohyeon Elementary; replacement of safety fencing and repair of sidewalk potholes near Dunjeon Jeil Elementary; pedestrian safety improvements at the intersection near the administrative town entrance by Samga Elementary; installation of a canopy along the commute route at Seoryong Elementary; reinstallation of speed bumps near Yongin Elementary; a traffic safety plan for school arrivals and departures at Unhak Elementary; donation of unused space between the school fence and a noise barrier to Wonsan Elementary; and installation of school signage at Duchang Elementary.

On the request from Dunjeon Jeil Elementary parents to replace the safety fence with a yellow one, Lee instructed city officials: "Under the city's standard design guidelines, painting the entire fence yellow is difficult because of concerns about children being hidden from view and driver visibility, but it would be good to explore various options, such as painting only certain sections yellow."

On the request from Samga Elementary parents to install pedestrian signals at the three-way intersection near the administrative town entrance, Lee said the city would install them next year.

Regarding concerns raised by Yongin Elementary parents about illegal parking near Yongin Jungang Market and Yongin Oiljang market creating safety risks for children on their way to school, Lee told city officials to visit the site to assess the situation and to consider deploying traffic safety officers at crosswalks without signals.

Parents from Baeam Elementary, Yeokbuk Elementary and Jangpyeong Elementary drew notice by offering special words of thanks to Lee for his focus on upgrading aging facilities.

"For Yeokbuk Elementary, which had no cafeteria and was using a makeshift indoor gym, we invested a total of about 7 billion won — including roughly 1.4 billion won in city funds — to build a multipurpose facility with a three-story gymnasium and cafeteria," Lee said. "We also provided a total of 2 billion won each, including 620 million won in city funds, to support gymnasium construction at Jangpyeong Elementary and Baekbong Elementary. We are also moving ahead with a project to demolish the more than 40-year-old auditorium at Baeam Elementary and build a swimming pool and gymnasium — usable by both residents and students — at a total cost of 27 billion won."

"These projects require substantial budgets and cannot be carried out by the city alone, so they involve multiple rounds of consultation, but we are genuinely committed to improving the educational environment as an investment in the future," Lee said. "Projects to upgrade aging school facilities and efforts to convert unused spaces into libraries, science rooms and other learning areas will continue through my second term."

A Baeam Elementary parent said: "We are grateful that Mayor Lee has shown great interest in education and invested budget in it, including the swimming pool construction project at our school. However, given that Baeam Elementary has the unique situation of delivering meals to nearby schools, we hope the city can provide additional safe and comfortable vehicles to support that."

A city official said Baeam Elementary is the only school in Yongin that provides mobile meal delivery, and that the city would discuss support options with the district education office, taking into account the vehicles' service life and ease of transport.

Parents from Samga Elementary, Yongin Solbit Elementary, Cheoin Elementary and Duchang Elementary called for an expansion of the city-funded senior school-crossing guard program.

Lee said the city would develop a plan to expand the program — even if it required additional city funding — given its benefits for child safety and senior employment.

A Duchang Elementary parent said: "Ours is a small rural school with no fence or school gate, but we live happily, communicating with warm-hearted neighbors. However, road widening construction has recently begun nearby, raising concerns about children's commute safety. We hope the senior crossing guards, who currently come twice a week, can come more often, and that safety features such as yellow carpet zones can be installed."

Lee said he would ask construction officials to refrain from operating construction vehicles during student arrival and departure times, and that school signage and a yellow carpet zone would be installed on the Duchang Elementary commute route as soon as possible.

"I find it very meaningful to be able to hear in detail about the inconveniences at each local school through these annual meetings," Lee said. "Beyond these sessions, we are always listening to your opinions and going out to the field to find solutions, so please feel free to speak to me and city officials at any time whenever you need the city's help."

During his first term, Lee secured a total of 146.2 billion won in city, national and provincial funds to improve educational conditions. Key projects included the construction of the Giheung Community Center, the Yongcheon Elementary Community Center and a school complex facility at Baeam Elementary, as well as new gymnasium construction at Jangpyeong Elementary and Baekbong Elementary, and gymnasium renovations at Pogok Middle School and Wonsan Elementary.