Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon shakes hands with attendees during his open inauguration ceremony at Seoul City Hall in Jung District, central Seoul, on July 1.SEOUL METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT
Governors, mayors, local council members and superintendents of education elected in the June 3 local elections officially began their four-year terms on Wednesday.
Most local leaders scaled back or skipped inauguration ceremonies and instead chose to begin their term by highlighting their focus on the economy and people's livelihoods.
Oh Se-hoon, the fifth-term mayor of Seoul, held an open inauguration ceremony at City Hall in Jung District, central Seoul, instead of renting an outside venue. He greeted and shook hands with 1,500 guests.
"I will make Seoul a city where young people can dream again," Oh said in his inaugural speech. "If young people have to leave Seoul because they cannot afford housing, that is not their failure — it is Seoul's."
Housing, transportation and health care topped his policy agenda.
"We will further accelerate housing supply with a goal of starting construction on 310,000 homes by 2031," said Oh. "I will make Seoul a city with a truly higher quality of life."
Chun Jae-soo, the mayor of Busan, skipped an inauguration ceremony altogether and instead convened an emergency meeting to discuss measures to improve people's livelihoods.
Busan Mayor Chun Jae-soo raises his hand while taking the oath on his first day in office in Busan on July 1.BUSAN METROPOLITAN CITY
"We will spend the next 100 days focusing on restoring livelihoods by pursuing 10 initiatives worth 1.38 trillion won [$887 million],” said Chun. "The measures include additional financial support for small business owners, gas subsidies for truck drivers, a temporary increase in the Dongbaekjeon [Busan's prepaid local spending card] cashback rate to 15 percent and assistance with rent and renovation costs for vacant storefronts."
Some newly inaugurated leaders devoted their first day to reviewing local finances.
"We must confront the serious fiscal challenges created by falling tax revenue and the financial burden of major projects," Daejeon mayor Heo Tae-jeong said. "We will pursue strategic fiscal reforms by boldly eliminating unnecessary and nonessential projects."
He also urged civil servants to move beyond conventional bureaucracy and instead deliver tangible policies that residents can benefit from.
North Chungcheong Governor Shin Yong-han signs a document in his office at the provincial government building in Cheongju, North Chungcheong, on July 1.NEWS1
Shin Yong-han, the governor of North Chungcheong, approved a plan to establish a committee focused on fiscal reform as his first order of business. The committee, which reports directly to the governor, will review local debt and spending to improve fiscal efficiency.
"We will move away from bureaucracy and instead pursue policies centered on the residents' livelihoods," Shin said. "Resources secured through fiscal normalization will be invested in areas that improve residents' quality of life, such as public health care, welfare, public safety, youth programs and support for small businesses."
Creating jobs was high on the agenda for many of the newly inaugurated leaders.
"Two major corporations will build AI data centers in Gangwon," Gangwon Gov. Woo Sang-ho said. "Investment worth as much as 100 trillion won is beginning to flow into Gangwon. The time is coming when people will move to Gangwon to work for major companies instead of leaving Gangwon to find those jobs elsewhere."
The governor promised to foster industries such as biotechnology, AI, health care, data and drones as future growth engines.
Jeju Governor Wi Seong-gon speaks at his inauguration ceremony at the Jeju Provincial Government Building in Jeju on July 1.YONHAP
"I will make Jeju a place where young people choose to stay and where good jobs are available," Jeju Gov. Wi Seong-gon said. "No accomplishments will mean anything unless we improve the lives of our residents.”
Choo Kyung-ho, the mayor of Daegu, also made economic revitalization his top priority.
"The first priority is to transform Daegu's economy," said Choo. "I will build Daegu, where businesses continue to invest and innovate and where young people return for jobs."
Park Wan-su, the re-elected governor of South Gyeongsang, urged the development of local growth engines on the first day of his new term.
"In addition to our key industries such as defense, shipbuilding, aerospace and nuclear power, we urgently need new growth engines," Park said. "We must foster physical AI for manufacturing and small modular reactors as core industries for South Gyeongsang."
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
