It was confirmed on the 22nd that Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party, has decided to resign as governor on the 25th.
A Gyeonggi official said on the same day, “Governor Lee has set the date of his resignation as governor on the 25th, and he plans to submit a notice of resignation to the chairman of the provincial council soon.”
The official performance of the branch office is until 24:00 on the 25th, and from 00:00 on the 26th, he will step down from the branch office.
According to the Local Autonomy Act, if the head of a local government intends to resign from his office, he/she must notify the chairperson of the local council in advance in writing (notice of resignation) stating the date of resignation. The date of resignation shall be the date indicated on the notice of resignation.
Therefore, the official resignation date for this governor is the 26th.
This is about a month earlier than the deadline for a presidential candidate to resign from public office under the Public Official Election Act (December 9, 90 days before the election).
It is reported that Governor Lee held a resignation press conference at the Gyeonggi Provincial Office on the morning of the 25th and is considering a schedule to visit the provincial council after presiding the last executive meeting in the afternoon.
At the interview, it seems that he will reveal his feelings about resigning mid-term as an elected local government head without fulfilling his term.
A provincial official said, “I understand that he is resigning from the governor’s office earlier than the legal deadline for resignation at the request of the Democratic Party’s leadership that it is difficult to focus on the election while maintaining his office.”
Earlier, on the 11th, the day after the election of the presidential candidate, Song Young-gil, the leader of the Democratic Party, requested the early resignation of the governorship, saying, “I need to organize the governorship of Gyeonggi-do as soon as possible and register as a presidential candidate to prepare for the presidential election in earnest.”
In response, Governor Lee said on the 12th, “I fully understand the recommendation of the party leadership that it would be better to resign early and focus on the presidential election, but as a result of deliberation, I decided to go to the National Inspectorate.”
Governor Lee resigned as the mayor of Seongnam for re-election in March 2018 to run for the Gyeonggi governor election.
If this governor resigns, the 7th term of the popular election for the remaining eight months will be run by the first vice-governor, Oh Byung-gwon, who took office on the 8th of this month.
