Lee Seung-ro, the first Seongbuk District mayor to win a third term, has added a new title. After becoming the first chair of the Seoul Metropolitan Council of District Mayors under the ninth popularly elected local government term, Lee was elected on the 1st of this month as representative of the Democratic Party's National Association of Basic Local Government Heads. The posts give him responsibility for coordinating shared agendas across Seoul's 25 autonomous districts and for conveying the concerns of basic-level governments nationwide to central politics.
In a recent interview with The Seoul Economic Daily, Lee said the authority and finances available to basic-level governments are not enough to carry out the projects residents want. "I will work to ensure that basic-level governments across the country, not just Seongbuk, pool their strength so that more benefits reach residents," he said.
Lee served as a district council member and then as a Seoul Metropolitan Council member before becoming mayor, and that combination of basic-level council, metropolitan council and local administrative experience is seen as an asset in leading the two associations. He plans to turn issues that individual districts cannot resolve on their own — redevelopment and rebuilding, transportation and local finances — into joint agenda items and press the central government and the Seoul Metropolitan Government for institutional changes.
The principle Lee emphasizes is "cooperation over competition." Transferring some of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's authority over redevelopment projects to the autonomous districts is another key issue. His position is to seek agreement with the city first, but to consider revising the law if no agreement is reached. "This is not about taking away the city's authority but about finding a way to move stalled projects forward quickly," he said. "If the districts take on part of the role, the city can also ease its workload, and the biggest beneficiaries are the members of redevelopment associations."
Expanding local finances is another major task. Lee believes that as basic-level governments shoulder more of the cost of projects pursued by the central government, they have less room to pursue their own initiatives. "When local governments share the financing of national projects, it becomes difficult to carry out our own projects with residents," he said. "For genuine local autonomy, finances must be devolved along with authority."
His role has grown larger, but Seongbuk District and the daily lives of its residents remain at the center of Lee's attention. The principle he stresses most in running the district is a field-centered administrative philosophy: the answers are in the field. During the seventh and eighth terms, he operated an on-site mayor's office that took in more than 20,000 resident proposals and complaints. For the ninth term, he reorganized the previous neighborhood-by-neighborhood format into four zones based on living areas. Transportation, housing and environmental problems shared by several neighborhoods are now discussed jointly, and complaints not resolved on site must receive a written response within a month.
Choosing the Seongbuk Haedeurim Center as the first project he approved after taking office for the ninth term was an extension of that approach. Unlike the usual practice of leading with large development projects or transportation issues, the focus was on resolving small inconveniences in residents' daily lives. The program supports older adults living alone and vulnerable households with tasks such as replacing light bulbs and repairing window screens and safety handrails, with a rapid-response team visiting sites and aiming to fix problems within 24 to 48 hours. "Large projects such as redevelopment can be pursued jointly by multiple agencies, but small inconveniences like these are hard to resolve unless the district office handles them directly," Lee said. "Some older residents shed tears and say they are more grateful to us than to their own families once the problem is fixed."
Lee is also devoting effort to urban redevelopment and expanding the transportation network. Seongbuk District currently has 132 redevelopment and rebuilding projects underway. In transportation, he is focused on reviving the Gangbuk Crosstown Line, which failed to clear a preliminary feasibility study. Local interest is high, with some 280,000 residents signing a petition for the project to be revived. He plans to consult with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the districts along the route to lay the groundwork for construction to begin within his term. "Even if some stations or entrances are cut, the originally planned route should be maintained," Lee said. "Transportation must be approached not only in terms of economic feasibility but also balanced development and welfare."
Beyond housing and transportation, the district is continuing projects to improve residents' quality of life. It will expand a public postpartum care center and care systems, and create an education-focused zone in the Seokgwan-dong area. It is also pursuing a combined cultural and sports center at the Jeongneung bus depot, along with the Seongbuk Culture and Arts Center and the Seongbuk Cultural Heritage Center. Taking advantage of the area's concentration of universities, the district plans to strengthen support for young adults starting businesses and finding jobs, and to help build a culture and tourism belt in the northeastern part of the city.
Lee said he feels a greater sense of responsibility as he begins his third term, because he believes he must complete the various projects Seongbuk has pursued so that residents feel the change in their daily lives. "At first I thought a third term would let me work with a little more ease, but I have actually become busier," he said. "The goal of my final term is to complete the projects we have prepared one by one and build a city where residents can say, 'Living here, Seongbuk really is a warm and comfortable place.'"