Mayor of Seoul
서울특별시장
Logo of the Seoul Metropolitan Government
Incumbent Oh Se-hoon since 8 April 2021
Member of	State Council
Residence	Mayor's residence, Hannam-dong
Term length	Four years, renewable thrice
Inaugural holder	Kim Hyongmin
Formation	28 September 1946; 77 years ago (1946-09-28)
Salary	₩102 million annually
Website	Official website

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.

History

The modern office of mayor succeeds the historic offices of Hansong-bu P'anyun (Lord Mayor of Seoul).

List of mayors

Mayors of Gyeongseong

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.

Appointed mayors of Seoul

Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office[3]			Political party
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
	Kim Hyongmin [ko] 김형민 (1907–1998)[n 2]	September 28, 1946	December 15, 1948	2 years, 79 days
	Yun Posun 윤보선 (1897–1990)	December 15, 1948	June 6, 1949	174 days
	Lee Ki-poong 이기붕 (1896–1960)	June 6, 1949	May 8, 1951	1 year, 337 days
	Kim Tai Sun [ko] 김태선 (1903–1977)	June 27, 1951	July 6, 1956	5 years, 60 days
	Goh Chaebong 고재봉	July 6, 1956	December 14, 1957	1 year, 162 days
	Ho Chong 허정 (1896–1988)	December 14, 1957	June 12, 1959	1 year, 181 days	Democratic
	Yim Heung Soon [ko] 임흥순 (1895–1971)	June 12, 1959	April 30, 1960	324 days	Liberal
	Chang Ki Young [ko] 장기영 (1903–1981)	May 2, 1960	June 30, 1960	60 days	Liberal
	Kim Sangdon [ko] 김상돈 (1901–1986) [n 3]	December 30, 1960	May 16, 1961	138 days	Democratic
	Yoon Taeil [ko] 윤태일 (1918–1982)	May 21, 1961	December 16, 1963	2 years, 210 days	Military
	Yun Chi-young 윤치영 (1898–1996)	December 17, 1963	March 30, 1966	2 years, 165 days	Democratic Republican
	Kim Hyun-ok [ko] 김현옥 (1926–1997)	March 31, 1966	April 16, 1970	4 years, 17 days	Democratic Republican
	Yang Taek Shik [ko] 양택식 (1924–2012)	April 16, 1970	September 2, 1974	4 years, 140 days	Democratic Republican
	Koo Cha Chun [ko] 구자춘 (1932–1996)	September 2, 1974	December 22, 1978	4 years, 112 days	Democratic Republican
	Chong Sangchon [ko] 정상천 (1931–2015)	December 22, 1978	September 2, 1980	1 year, 256 days	Democratic Republican
	Park Young Su [ko] 박영수 (1928–2003)	September 2, 1980	April 28, 1982	1 year, 239 days	Democratic Justice
	Kim Sung-bae [ko] 김성배	April 28, 1982	October 15, 1983	1 year, 171 days	Democratic Justice
	Yom Po-hyun [ko] 염보현 (1932–2021)	October 15, 1983	December 30, 1987	4 years, 77 days	Democratic Justice
	Kim Yong Nae [ko] 김용래 (1934–2009)	December 30, 1987	December 5, 1988	342 days	Democratic Justice
	Goh Kun 고건 (born 1938)	December 5, 1988	December 27, 1990	2 years, 23 days	Democratic Justice
	Park Seh-jik 박세직 (1933–2009)	December 27, 1990	February 18, 1991	54 days	Democratic Liberal
	Lee Haewon [ko] 이해원 (1930–2014)	February 19, 1991	June 26, 1992	1 year, 129 days	Democratic Liberal
	Lee Sang-bae [ko] 이상배 (born 1939)	June 26, 1992	February 26, 1993	246 days	Democratic Liberal
	Kim Sang chul [ko] 김상철 (1947–2012)	February 26, 1993	March 4, 1993	7 days	Democratic Liberal
	Lee Won Jong [ko] 이원종 (born 1942)	March 8, 1993	October 21, 1994	1 year, 228 days	Democratic Liberal
	Woo Myoung Kyu [ko] 우명규 (born 1936)	October 22, 1994	November 3, 1994	13 days	Democratic Liberal
	Choi Byung-ryeol 최병렬 (1938–2022)	November 3, 1994	June 30, 1995	240 days	Democratic Liberal

Directly elected mayors

Since 1995, under provisions of the revised Local Government Act, the mayor of Seoul is elected by direct election.

Term	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party		Elected
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1st		Cho Soon 조순 趙淳 (1928–2022)	July 1, 1995	September 9, 1997	2 years, 71 days		Democratic	1995
		Kang Deok-ki 강덕기 姜德基 (born 1936) Acting	September 10, 1997	June 30, 1998	294 days		Independent	—
2nd		Goh Kun 고건 高建 (born 1938)	July 1, 1998	June 30, 2002	4 years, 0 days		National Congress → Millennium Democratic	1998
3rd		Lee Myung-bak 이명박 李明博 (born 1941)	July 1, 2002	June 30, 2006	4 years, 0 days		Grand National	2002
4th		Oh Se-hoon 오세훈 吳世勳 (born 1961)	July 1, 2006	August 26, 2011	5 years, 57 days		Grand National	2006
5th								2010
		Kwon Young-kyu [ko] 권영규 權寧奎 (born 1955) Acting	August 27, 2011	October 26, 2011	61 days		Independent	—
		Park Won-soon 박원순 朴元淳 (1955–2020)	October 27, 2011	July 9, 2020[n 4]	8 years, 257 days		Independent → Democratic United → Democratic ('11) → NPAD → Democratic ('14)	2011 (by-el.)
6th								2014
7th								2018
		Seo Jung-hyup 서정협 徐正協 (born 1965) Acting	July 10, 2020	April 7, 2021	273 days		Independent	—
		Oh Se-hoon 오세훈 吳世勳 (born 1961)	April 8, 2021	Incumbent	2 years, 323 days		People Power	2021 (by-el.)
8th								2022

Elections

1995

1998

2002

2006

2010

2011 (by-election)

2014

2018

2021 (by-election)

2022