Resigning Heads of Local Governing Bodies Number Around 15

A total of twelve heads of local governing bodies have resigned or applied for resignation as of December 16 with the deadline of resignation, December 17, in order to run for the 17th general election approaching.

National Council of City, County and District Heads announced that the following 12 heads have either resigned or applied for a resignation for the general election as of 9 p.m. December 16: Kim Choong-whan, mayor of Gangdong-gu Seoul, Kim Dong-il, mayor of Junggu in Seoul, Huh Ok-kyoung, mayor of Haeundae-gu in Busan, Lim Dae-yoon, mayor of Dong-gu, Lee Myeong-gyu, mayor of Buk-gu in Daegu, Lim Young-ho, mayor of Dong-gu, Lee Byung-ryoung, mayor of Yuseong-su, Oh- Hee-joong, mayor of Daedok-gu in Daejon, Won Hye-young, mayor of Bucheon in Gyeonggi, Lee Shi-jong, mayor of Chungju in Chungbuk, Kim Nak-sung, mayor of Dangjin in Chungnam, Kim Hyuk-gyu, governor of Gyoengnam in Gyoengnam, and others.

The council said, “We see that there will be one or two more in Seoul and one each in Ulsan, Gyeonggi, Jeonbuk, and Gyeongnam respectively. The total number will be around 15 people.”

By-elections for the resigned heads will be held on June 10 next year.

Forty heads of the local governing bodies have previously expressed their will to run for the general election either directly or indirectly, including three-time consecutive heads who are affected by the “restriction on the election of a head of a local governing body to four times” regulation set by Local Governing Body Law. However, the number of actual applicants for the resignation has decreased by more than expected.

Jong-Hoon Lee taylor55@donga.com