Busan Mayor-elect Jeon Jae-soo has completed the formation of a transition committee that will draw up the blueprint for the city administration under the ninth popularly elected term. Analysts say he has taken the first step toward "integrated city governance" that transcends the political conflicts revealed during the election campaign, presenting a "hands-on transition committee" that sharply increases the proportion of young people, women, and field experts to turn his campaign pledges into actionable policies.
Jeon announced Tuesday that he had finalized the name of the Busan mayoral transition committee as the "Busan Running Again Committee," which will begin official activities for 20 days starting Wednesday. The committee's slogan is "Livelihood Now, Future for Certain, Busan Again." It reflects his intention to make recovery of the people's livelihood economy and securing future growth engines the two main pillars of the ninth-term administration.
The transition committee is chaired by Cha Jae-kwon, a professor of political science and diplomacy at Pukyong National University. Cha, who has continued research in the fields of Busan politics and local administration, will oversee the overall operation of the committee and lead the work of taking over the city administration.
Shin Young-ran, a professor at the Graduate School of Global Logistics at Korea Maritime and Ocean University, was named vice chair. Shin, a maritime and logistics expert and a woman in her 40s, is expected to play a role in drawing up the blueprint for the maritime capital and global logistics hub policies, which are Busan's core growth strategies.
The most distinctive feature of the transition committee is its generational shift and hands-on personnel selection. Of the 20 committee members in total, eight are in their 20s to 40s, accounting for 40 percent. Notably, a Pusan National University student in his 20s is participating as a member, drawing attention to the fact that young people have been brought in as designers of city policy rather than merely recipients of policy benefits.
This is interpreted as reflecting Jeon's intention to approach Busan's structural problems of youth population outflow and the crisis facing local universities from the perspective of those directly affected.
The transition committee is composed of professors, field experts, labor figures, and those with administrative experience. The mayor-elect's side explains that it is closer to an implementation organization that converts campaign pledges into actual policies, rather than a simple advisory body.
The organization operates around six core areas: completion of the maritime capital, jobs and economic innovation, balanced development and urban innovation, citizen happiness, city administration and fiscal innovation, and planning and coordination. In addition, special committees will be established separately to handle Busan's future strategic tasks, including youth, livelihood, the Arctic sea route, AI transformation, and citizen communication.
In particular, the Citizen Communication Special Committee is regarded as a symbol of expanding political outreach. The committee includes Kim Byung-geun, former president of KNN; Lee Jae-woong, former chair of the Reform Party's Busan city chapter; and Yoo Soon-hee, former CEO of the Busan Women's Newspaper. Including a wide range of figures with different political leanings and backgrounds is read as a message that Jeon will begin full-scale integration efforts following the election.
"This is not a transition committee for show, but a hands-on organization for converting the pledges promised to citizens into actual city administration tasks," Jeon said. "Based on young execution capability and expertise, we will prepare the ninth-term Busan city administration without any gaps."
He stressed, "The Citizen Communication Special Committee will be a window of integration that gathers strength for Busan's future beyond the boundaries of the election," adding, "We will carry out city governance for all Busan citizens, beyond whether they supported us and beyond party lines."
Over the next 20 days, the transition committee will receive work reports from the Busan city government and concretize plans for fulfilling pledges, while also gathering citizen proposals and reviewing major pending issues. The priorities and implementation roadmap of the ninth-term Busan city administration are expected to take shape during this process.
