Busan Mayor Jeon Jae-soo appoints first public institution head

Busan Mayor Jeon Jae-soo has made his first public institution appointment since assuming office, naming Son Ji-hyun as the new director of the Busan Social Service Center.

Son Ji-hyun, a 47-year-old professor specializing in counseling and welfare at Silla University, received her appointment letter from Mayor Jeon at the Busan City Hall. She will serve a three-year term. Professor Son has been lecturing at Silla University since March 2015 and is recognized as an expert in social welfare policy and administration, with a focus on community-integrated care, regional social security councils, and public-private partnerships. She previously served as the director of the Busan Welfare Phone Network and chairs the ethics committee for the Korean Society of Integrated Case Management.

Son Ji-hyun played a role in developing Mayor Jeon's campaign pledges, notably the "Busan Youth First Career Guarantee Program." This initiative aims to place 300 young individuals in public institutions and 700 in private organizations for one year, providing a living wage. The city plans to subsidize half of the first year's labor costs for companies that continue to employ these individuals afterward, with an estimated city budget of 117 billion won allocated for the program.

Her appointment is in line with a Busan City ordinance established in March 2023. This ordinance mandates the automatic dismissal of executives at affiliated and invested public institutions whose legal terms of office are not guaranteed, one day before the new mayor's term begins. Following Mayor Jeon's inauguration on July 1, a total of 88 executives across 12 institutions, including the Busan Social Service Center, were automatically dismissed. Mayor Jeon plans to sequentially appoint new executives, starting with Son Ji-hyun.