Seoul has elected its second-ever district mayor with a police background.

Ryu Sam-Young (62) of the Democratic Party, who led a meeting of senior superintendents opposing the Yoon Suk Yeol administration's creation of a Police Bureau within the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and was subsequently sidelined before entering politics, was elected Dongjak District Mayor in the ninth nationwide local elections. In Dongjak District, which anchors part of the Han River belt, the victory of the Democratic Party was an unexpectedly strong performance.

Ryu took 45.02%, outpacing Kim Jeong-tae of the People Power Party (35.31%) by 9.71 percentage points. As of 9:43 a.m. on the 4th, the ballot count in Dongjak District stood at 95.22%. Incumbent Dongjak District Mayor Park Il-ha, who was cut off (denied nomination) by the People Power Party and switched affiliation to run with the Reform Party, garnered only 19.65%.

A district mayor with a police background is the second in the history of the autonomous districts of Seoul, following Gangseo District Mayor Jin Kyo-hoon. Jin also won reelection with 56.73%, handily beating People Power Party candidate Kim Jin-seon (39.90%).

Ryu campaigned under the slogan ‘Double the value of Dongjak, happiness of residents tomorrow’ and targeted voters with six core pledges. Key pledges included creating a large commercial belt linking the areas around Sadang, Isu, and Namseong Stations; early completion of the second administrative town in Sadang-dong; development of a complex cultural facility on the Boramae Park site; and an early start on the deep underground multi-purpose tunnel from Isu to Gwacheon.

Ryu, a former police official with 35 years of service, hails from Busan; after graduating from Daedong High School and the Korea National Police University (fourth class), he was appointed as an inspector in 1988. He built his career in investigations, including as head of the Metropolitan Investigation Unit and head of the Violent Crimes Division at the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency. He later served as chief of the Yeonje and Yeongdo police stations and as head of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crime Investigation Unit at the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency, directing major, high-profile cases.

When the Yoon Suk Yeol administration pushed in July 2022 to create a Police Bureau within the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the grounds of strengthening control over the police, he led a nationwide meeting of senior superintendents to oppose it and received a three-month suspension. When a demotion to superintendent level followed, he promptly resigned.

Democratic Party leader Jeong Cheong-rae, while campaigning for Ryu, said, “We will build a local government that works as well as President Lee Jae Myung” and “Coup forces, stop right there; Ryu Sam-Young, Dongjak District Mayor, set off.”

Ryu entered politics through talent recruitment by the Democratic Party. He ran in the 2024 general election in the Dongjak-eul constituency but lost, and in this local election he ran for Dongjak District Mayor and won.