The mayor of Seoul (Korean: 서울특별시장) is the chief executive of Seoul Metropolitan Government, Seoul being the capital and largest city of South Korea.
The position is historically one of the most powerful in the country, charged with managing an annual budget of 23 trillion won.[1] Many Seoul mayors have gone on to hold higher office. Yun Bo-seon and Lee Myung-bak both went on to become President of the Republic of Korea.
The mayor of Seoul, although being the head of a local autonomous region in South Korea and not directly related to the central executive branch, has been allowed to attend State Council meetings considering the special status of Seoul as a Special City and its mayor as the only cabinet-level mayor in Korea.
The incumbent mayor is Oh Se-hoon, who assumed office for the third time on 8 April 2021 after a by-election. He won 57.5 percent of the vote.[2] Oh previously served as mayor between 2006 and 2011, having been elected in 2006 and 2010.
The modern office of mayor succeeds the historic offices of Hansong-bu P'anyun (Lord Mayor of Seoul).
Right after independence from Japan, Seoul was temporarily still called Gyeongseong (the Korean reading for Japanese name keijo) and was a part of Gyeonggi Province before being separated from the province and being designated as a Special City.
Since 1995, under provisions of the revised Local Government Act, the mayor of Seoul is elected by direct election.