Ahead of the June 3 local elections, attention is turning to the central Gyeonggi region, where two candidates are seeking to become non-consecutive four-term mayors.
According to reporting by The Seoul Economic Daily on Tuesday, while the current Local Autonomy Act limits heads of basic local governments to three consecutive terms, they may run again after taking one term off. Within Gyeonggi Province, former Gunpo Mayor Kim Yoon-joo has been the only mayor to achieve a non-consecutive four-term record. After serving as Gunpo mayor during the second and third popularly elected terms, he lost in the fourth term but won again in the fifth and sixth terms, finishing with four terms in total. The former mayor laid the groundwork for urban development by rooting a distinctive tourism asset—the "Royal Azalea Festival"—in Gunpo, a typical bedroom community, and is still regarded as a respected politician in the local community even after his retirement from politics.
Following former Mayor Kim, two incumbents are now mounting bids to become the second non-consecutive four-term mayor: Choi Dae-ho, the Democratic Party of Korea mayor of Anyang, and Kim Seong-je, the People Power Party mayor of Uiwang.
Choi was elected Anyang mayor during the fifth popularly elected term, lost in the sixth, and went on to win the seventh and eighth terms in succession. He is now seeking a fourth term in office.
After steering Anyang—where urban growth had been slowing as manufacturing declined—into a compact smart city, Choi has more recently drawn attention by pushing a large-scale urban project to transform the city into a hub for physical AI.
He is also actively highlighting on the campaign trail his longstanding ties and policy cooperation with President Lee Jae-myung, dating back to Lee's tenure as Seongnam mayor, while pointing to the prospect of realizing Anyang's biggest pending projects, including the underground relocation of the railway and the Bakdal Smart Valley.
Kim Seong-je, who is bidding for a fourth term in Uiwang—a city adjacent to Anyang and effectively part of the same living zone—has a notable political history. He served as Uiwang mayor during the fifth and sixth popularly elected terms as a Democratic Party member, took a hiatus, and then returned to city hall in the eighth term after switching his party affiliation to the People Power Party. He has pledged to complete major urban development projects including the Baegun Valley development and the city's smart city policy.
It is widely acknowledged in local political circles that both candidates have firm local bases, having reached the city's top post three times. The challenge will be overcoming the sharp attacks from rivals seeking to exploit "fourth-term fatigue."
Kim Dae-young, the People Power Party candidate running against Choi, served as the latter-half chair of the seventh Anyang City Council and is regarded as having a local base no less solid than Choi's. Saying "the fatigue from 12 years of Democratic Party city administration must be changed," he is focusing on sweeping administrative reform and on building a smart city belt through deregulation.
Jung Soon-wook, the Democratic Party candidate competing with Kim Seong-je, is also seeking to block a fourth-term mayor, putting forward pledges including the creation of a southern Gyeonggi KINTEX and the inclusion of an extension of the Wirye-Gwacheon Line into Uiwang in the national railway network plan. He is showcasing a formidable presence by actively highlighting his 34 years of bureaucratic administrative experience and his service as chief of staff to then-Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung during the seventh popularly elected term.
"Both Choi and Kim simultaneously enjoy incumbent premium and face fatigue from their fourth-term bids," a local political source said. "The outcome will be decided on the basis of citizens' objective evaluation of the fruits accumulated over the past 12 years."
