In Seoul, the Citizens Are the Mayor

• Date: 01 July 2014
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12243
• Author: Park Won‐soon
• Published date: 01 July 2014

Perspective

Park Won-soon, human rights lawyer

and civic activist, was elected mayor of

Seoul, South Korea, on October 26,

2011, as an independent candidate. He

was principal founder of the nonprof‌i t

watchdog organization People’s Solidarity

for Participatory Democracy, which monitors

government regulatory practices and f‌i ghts

political corruption. Park has also been

instrumental in advancing other social

change organizations in South Korea,

among them the Beautiful Foundation and

Hope Institute.

E-mail: wonsoon@seoul.go.kr

442 Public Administration Review • July | August 2014

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 74, Iss. 4, pp. 442–443. © 2014 by

The American Society for Public Administration.

DOI: 10.1111/puar.12243.

Park Won-soon

Seoul, South Korea

Editor’s Note: Mayor Park was re-elected by 56%

majority on June 4, 2014.

JLP

Seoul is a dynamic city.  e lights rarely go out.

Seoul is known for a lot of things, but its “owl

buses” are what make it famous at night. Owl

buses are public buses run by the city from mid-

night to dawn. Every day, around 6,400 citizens use

owl buses to return home. Passengers are corporate

employees and students working and studying late at

night, store owners and shopkeepers running night-

time businesses, and street cleaners and chauf‌f eurs

working night shifts. For these citizens, owl buses have

become an indispensable means of public transporta-

tion that is safe and reliable.

 e idea for owl buses f‌i rst came from a university

student. He wrote an e-mail to the city suggesting that

the city operate late-night buses. His suggestion was a

good one, and it was ref‌l ected in city policies, quickly

becoming a reality and changing the lives of citizens

for the better. As such, the strength of Seoul lies in

communication and collaboration with the citizens.

In Seoul, the citizens are the mayor.

My election as mayor of Seoul in October 2011

paved the way for citizens to become more involved

in the city’s policy-making process. My pledge to the

citizens upon my inauguration was that I would be

the f‌i rst mayor to truly change their lives for the bet-

ter. I would not sacrif‌i ce their quality of life for urban

development.

For most of the past several decades, Seoul had

focused primarily on urban development and

neglected quality of life. A new way of thinking

was required: the city would harness the power of

the citizens. Citizens would no longer be at the

receiving end of city policies; they would be at the

forefront, playing an active role in shaping city

policies.

 e ver y f‌i rst initiative I pursued as mayor was com-

munication and collaboration with the citizens. To

that end, we strived for innovation in city administra-

tion.  e f‌i rst innovation was on-site administration.

Solutions are found at the site of the problem, not

in boardrooms or behind desks. We launched an

“On-Site Of‌f‌i ce of the Mayor” to make regular visits

to neglected neighborhoods to listen to the voices of

the residents. We also opened “Listening Workshops”

to ref‌l ect the opinions of the citizens in our policies.

In city hall, we created “Citizens’ Hall,” a venue where

citizens can actively communicate and collaborate

with city government.

 e second innovation was open administration.

We launched an online platform (http://opengov.

seoul.go.kr) to disclose all public data to citizens.

Citizens can have access to of‌f‌i cial documents author-

ized by the city government and submit their opinions

about the city government’s decisions. Our open

government initiative not only raises transparency but

also improves accountability and builds trust.

 e third innovation was Twitter administration or

Social Networking Services (SNS) administration.

Realizing that SNS could be an ef‌f ective channel

of communication, we pursued active communica-

tion with citizens through Twitter, Facebook, and

KakaoStory. I have more than 1 million followers and

friends. I receive hundreds of messages from citizens

containing complaints and suggestions every day.

City of‌f‌i cials view these messages in real time and

swiftly address the issues raised. We also launched an

integrated online channel (http://eungdapso.seoul.

go.kr) through which citizens can f‌i le complaints

more easily and civil servants can respond more

ef‌f ectively.

Such innovation in city administration, as well as

constant consultation with civic organizations and

expert groups, is empowering “collective governance”

in Seoul. And this collective governance, based on

communication and collaboration with the citizens,

In Seoul, the Citizens Are the Mayor