Seongbuk-gu District Mayor Lee elected to lead Democratic Party's national local chiefs council

Lee Seung-ro, the district mayor of Seoul's Seongbuk-gu, has been elected to lead the Democratic Party of Korea's National Council of Basic Local Government Chiefs.

According to Seongbuk-gu, the council is a consultative body made up of mayors, county chiefs and district mayors affiliated with the Democratic Party. It works to strengthen policy cooperation among local governments and relay key local issues and policy priorities to the central party leadership.

Lee was appointed special adviser on local autonomy to the Democratic Party leader in January and has since been channeling the experiences and challenges of local governments into the party's central policy-making process. Since July, he has served as chair of the ninth-term Seoul District Mayors' Council, coordinating shared issues across the capital's 25 autonomous districts. He also serves as co-chair of the National Association of Mayors and County Chiefs of Korea.

Lee is a local governance specialist with experience spanning basic councils, a metropolitan council and local government. A native of Jeongeup in North Jeolla Province, he began his political career in 1995 as a member of the second-term Seongbuk-gu Council. He later served on the third-term Seongbuk-gu Council and the ninth-term Seoul Metropolitan Council, and held posts including secretary-general of the Democratic Party's Seoul chapter and deputy secretary-general of the central party.

Having won election in 2018 and 2022, Lee secured a third consecutive term as district mayor in the June 3 local elections this year. Guided by the principle that "the answers lie in the field," he has pursued a hands-on approach to governance. As a result, Seongbuk-gu has received the top SA rating in the national evaluation of campaign pledge fulfillment and information disclosure for eighth-term local government chiefs for four consecutive years through this year.

Lee plans to hold regular consultations with local government chiefs across the country. Through these exchanges, he aims to share regional issues and policy priorities and to spread successful policies and achievements from local governments nationwide.

"Local autonomy is where democracy operates closest to residents' lives," Lee said. "Good policies that have delivered results in each region should be shared, and problems too difficult for any one area to solve alone should be tackled together."