JEONNAM-GWANGJU — Kang Myung-soo, a former chairman of the Korean Standards Association who spent decades as an industry and trade official, has been named the first vice mayor for industry and economy of Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City. With two nominees for locally appointed vice mayor posts set for confirmation hearings next month, the merged city is close to completing its four-vice-mayor structure.
The Ministry of Personnel Management appointed Kang to the post effective the 30th, Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City said on the 29th. Kang joins Hwang Ki-yeon, the earlier-appointed vice mayor for administration and culture, as one of two vice-ministerial-level vice mayors on the state payroll.
A native of Naju, Jeollanam-do, Kang graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in economics and later from its Graduate School of Public Administration, and earned a doctorate in economics from Missouri State University in the United States. Kang entered public service through the 35th civil service examination and served as commercial attache at the Taipei Mission of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, director of the export-import division at the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, director general of the Presidential Committee on Regional Development, and director general of the trade cooperation bureau and spokesperson at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Kang chaired the Korean Standards Association from 2021 to 2024.
Kang's appointment brings the city's four-vice-mayor structure into view. Under the special law governing the merger, the city may have two state-appointed and two locally appointed vice mayors. The state posts are held by Hwang and Kang, while Baek Seung-joo has been nominated as vice mayor for balanced development and Yoon Nan-sil as vice mayor for civic sovereignty. The city council plans to hold confirmation hearings for the two nominees on the 6th of next month.
Under a planned reorganization, Hwang will oversee political affairs, planning, culture and sports, and AI mobility from the Gwangju office, while Kang will handle industrial policy and investment promotion from the eastern office. The vice mayors for balanced development and civic sovereignty will work from the Muan office, handling balanced development and civic sovereignty respectively.
