Ulsan Mayor Kim Sang-wook has set "citizen sovereignty governance" and "labor-centered industrial AX (artificial intelligence transformation)" as the core of his 9th popularly elected term. His vision is to change the structure in which administration rules over citizens and to decide policy through public deliberation and participation, while applying AI across Ulsan's industries to leap forward as a hub of the global network.
In an interview with The Seoul Economic Daily on Friday, Kim said, "The position of mayor is not one for enjoying power, but the position of a servant who fulfills the authority and responsibility that citizens have temporarily entrusted." He added, "The era in which administration rules over citizens is now over, and I will open a true era of citizen sovereignty in which policy is decided through a sufficient process of deliberation with citizens." As an example illustrating this, he mentioned the "Munsu Stadium stand seat replacement" project.
The Munsu Stadium stand seats drew fierce backlash last year when they were replaced with a red-based color similar to the symbolic color of rival team Pohang Steelers, instead of blue, the symbolic color of the home team Ulsan HD FC. Kim views this as a representative case of "non-communicative administration" pushed forward without sufficiently listening to the opinions of soccer fans and citizens. "I keenly felt that administration must move in the direction citizens truly want, beyond simply refurbishing facilities," he said. "The fact that citizens' opinions were excluded by a decision mixed with a particular political color, and that taxpayers' money was spent in a direction citizens opposed, is a cautionary lesson that must be remembered."
Kim viewed this case as not merely a 2 billion won seat replacement project. During the transition committee's activities, he judged that large-scale projects requiring investments of hundreds to thousands of billions of won — including the Hakseong Park waterway restoration, the Ulsan urban railway (tram) Line 1, the construction of a world-class performance hall "THE HALL 1962," a sky walk, the Ulsan Industrial Festival, and bus route reorganization — also failed to sufficiently reflect citizens' opinions. "Regardless of whether they are large or small, all projects pushed forward without sufficient communication and public deliberation with citizens are subject to review," he stated firmly.
Accordingly, he made clear his intention to completely reorganize Ulsan's decision-making system to be citizen-centered. "I will open city hall meetings to the extent possible to maximize the transparency of city governance," Kim said. "What is most important is introducing public deliberation into all policy decision-making processes." He plans to prepare relevant ordinances to establish a public deliberation committee and a citizen participation committee composed of more than 100 citizens, institutionalizing a system in which large-scale projects cannot be decided by the mayor alone. "This procedure may appear to disperse my authority and slow things down, but it is a far more accurate path than deciding on my own, and one that reduces budget waste," Kim said. "Through intensive publicity, roundtable discussions, and opinion polls, experts and citizens will be able to sufficiently find common ground."
Change is also taking concrete shape at the point where citizens and administration meet. The "120 Ulsan Civil Affairs Center Advancement Plan," which Kim selected as his first approval immediately after taking office, expands the existing 120 civil affairs call center into a one-stop service that "completes everything with a single phone call" — from receiving complaints to connecting with departments and informing citizens of the results. From December, the scope will be broadened to encompass the city and its districts and counties, extending to non-statutory civil affairs.
The administrative paradigm will also shift from "waiting administration" to "outreach administration." Through the "Outreach Citizen Communication Team" newly established in December, citizen communication officers will directly visit large-scale construction sites or industrial complexes with frequent complaints to receive complaints on-site and connect with departments. Next year, a knowledge database (DB) will be built, and by 2028, generative AI-based chatbots and callbots will be introduced in stages to realize an advanced civil affairs system capable of 24-hour consultation.
Another keyword running through Kim's 9th-term Ulsan city governance is "urgency." At his inauguration ceremony, he diagnosed, "Ulsan boasts the highest levels in the nation in per capita income and budget allocation, but in reality, citizens' basic living conditions such as public transportation, medical care, welfare, and culture are more backward than those of neighboring cities." He continued, "While clinging to nostalgia for being the past industrial capital, we missed the fundamental innovation of the great AI revolution, and as a result, young people left and the self-employment ecosystem collapsed." He said, "I will make the next three years the last golden time for escaping the crisis."
As the core driving force to break through the crisis, he cited the "labor-centered industrial AX (artificial intelligence transformation)" ecosystem. Kim revealed his vision: "I will organically combine big tech companies that possess large language models (LLMs), major corporate groups that digitize the tacit knowledge of industrial sites, and UNIST, which will serve as the industrial AX hub for the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam region." He expressed confidence, saying, "I will develop industry-specialized small language models (sLLMs) and link them with the robotics industry, and create a virtuous cycle of commercializing them at the 'Ulsan AX Demonstration Complex,' making Ulsan a nexus of the global network."
At the end of the interview, Kim once again appealed to Ulsan's 1.1 million citizens. "The mountain of tasks ahead for the next four years — I can never go it alone," he said. "In particular, I earnestly ask those who are displeased with me. Please reproach my shortcomings at any time." He continued, "If a proposal is reasonable and helpful to citizens, I will accept it at any time," and promised, "I will walk humbly and fiercely, always learning and correcting, as a dependable tool that serves citizens."
He is… △Born in Uiseong, North Gyeongsang, in 1980 △Bachelor's in Law, Korea University △Master's in Law, Pusan National University School of Law △Managing attorney, Law Firm The Jeongseong △22nd National Assembly member (Ulsan Nam-gu A) △Elected Mayor of Ulsan for the 9th popularly elected term
