| Post: | Mayor |
| Body: | Gwangju |
| Flag: | Emblem of Gwangju.svg |
| Flagsize: | 180px |
| Flagcaption: | Seal of Gwangju |
| Incumbent: | Kang Gi-jung |
| Incumbentsince: | 1 July 2022 |
| Termlength: | Four years |
| Inaugural: | Seo Min-ho |
The Mayor of Gwangju is the head of the local government of Gwangju who is elected to a four-year term.
From 1945 to 1995, the Mayor of Gwangju was appointed by the President of the Republic of Korea.
Since 1995, under provisions of the revised Local Government Act, the Mayor of Gwangju is elected by direct election.
| Term | Portrait | Name | Term of office | Political party | Elected | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||||
| 1st | Korean: 송언종<br>宋彦鐘 | 1 July 1995 | 30 June 1998 | Democratic → National Congress | 1995 | ||||
| 2nd | Goh Jae-yu Korean: 고재유<br>高在維 | 1 July 1998 | 30 June 2002 | National Congress → Millennium Democratic | 1998 | ||||
| 3rd | Korean: 박광태<br>朴光泰 | 1 July 2002 | 30 June 2010 | Millennium Democratic → Democratic ('00) → Democratic ('08) | 2002 | ||||
| 4th | 2006 | ||||||||
| 5th | Korean: 강운태<br>姜雲太 | 1 July 2010 | 30 June 2014 | Democratic ('08) → Democratic United → Democratic ('11) → NPAD | 2010 | ||||
| 6th | Korean: 윤장현<br>尹壯鉉 | 1 July 2014 | 30 June 2018 | NPAD → Democratic | 2014 | ||||
| 7th | Lee Yong-seop Korean: 이용섭<br>李庸燮 | 1 July 2018 | 30 June 2022 | Democratic | 2018 | ||||
| 8th | Korean: 강기정<br>姜琪正 | 1 July 2022 | Incumbent | Democratic | 2022 | ||||
Source:[1]
| 1995 Gwangju mayoral election | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | ||||
| Democratic | 2 | Song Un-jong | 469,570 | 89.71% | |||
| Democratic Liberal | 1 | Kim Dong-hwan | 53,817 | 10.28% | |||
| Total | 523,387 | align=right colspan=2 | 100.00% | ||||
| Voter turnout | 64.82% | ||||||
| 1998 Gwangju mayoral election | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | ||||
| National Congress | 2 | Goh Jae-yu | 261,578 | 67.20% | |||
| Independent | 4 | Lee Seung-chae | 127,626 | 32.79% | |||
| Total | 389,204 | align=right colspan=2 | 100.00% | ||||
| Voter turnout | 45.07% | ||||||
| 2002 Gwangju mayoral election | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | ||||
| Millennium Democratic | 2 | Park Gwang-tae | 185,938 | 46.81% | |||
| Independent | 5 | Chung Dong-nyun | 107,415 | 27.04% | |||
| Grand National | 1 | Lee Hwan-eui | 43,695 | 11.00% | |||
| Democratic Labor | 3 | Park Jong-hyun | 29,427 | 7.40% | |||
| Independent | 6 | Chung Ho-sun | 20,796 | 5.23% | |||
| Independent | 4 | Chung Koo-sun | 9,877 | 2.48% | |||
| Total | 397,148 | align=right colspan=2 | 100.00% | ||||
| Voter turnout | 42.31% | ||||||
| 2006 Gwangju mayoral election | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | ||||
| Democratic | 3 | Park Gwang-tae | 239,884 | 51.61% | |||
| Uri | 1 | Cho Young-taek | 157,756 | 33.94% | |||
| Democratic Labor | 4 | Oh Byung-yoon | 48,617 | 10.46% | |||
| Grand National | 2 | Han Young | 18,461 | 3.97% | |||
| Total | 464,718 | align=right colspan=2 | 100.00% | ||||
| Voter turnout | 46.26% | ||||||
| 2010 Gwangju mayoral election | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | ||||
| Democratic | 2 | Kang Woon-tae | 297,003 | 56.73% | |||
| Participation | 8 | Chung Chan-yong | 75,830 | 14.48% | |||
| Grand National | 1 | Chung Yong-hwa | 74,490 | 14.22% | |||
| Democratic Labor | 5 | Chang Won-seop | 39,455 | 7.53% | |||
| New Progressive | 7 | Yoon Nan-sil | 30,834 | 5.89% | |||
| Peace Democratic | 9 | Cho Hong-kyu | 5,871 | 1.12% | |||
| Total | 523,483 | align=right colspan=2 | 100.00% | ||||
| Voter turnout | 49.76% | ||||||
| 2014 Gwangju mayoral election | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | ||||
| NPAD | 2 | Yoon Jang-hyun | 367,203 | 57.85% | |||
| Independent | 5 | Kang Woon-tae | 201,666 | 31.77% | |||
| Saenuri | 1 | Lee Jung-jae | 21,614 | 3.40% | |||
| Unified Progressive | 3 | Yoon Min-ho | 21,200 | 3.34% | |||
| Independent | 7 | Lee Byung-wan | 16,249 | 2.56% | |||
| Labor | 4 | Lee Byung-hoon | 6,785 | 1.06% | |||
| Total | 634,717 | align=right colspan=2 | 100.00% | ||||
| Voter turnout | 57.10% | ||||||
| 2018 Gwangju mayoral election | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | ||||
| Democratic | 1 | Lee Yong-seop | 573,995 | 84.07% | |||
| Justice | 5 | Na Gyung-che | 40,916 | 5.99% | |||
| Bareunmirae | 3 | Jeon Duk-young | 34,487 | 5.05% | |||
| Minjung | 6 | Yoon Min-ho | 33,312 | 4.87% | |||
| Total | 682,710 | align=right colspan=2 | 100.00% | ||||
| Voter turnout | 59.22% | ||||||
| 2022 Gwangju mayoral election | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | ||||
| Democratic | 1 | Kang Gi-jung | 334,699 | 74.91% | |||
| People Power | 2 | Joo Ki-hwan | 71,062 | 15.90% | |||
| Justice | 3 | Jang Yeun-ju | 21,070 | 4.71% | |||
| Progressive | 5 | Kim Ju-eop | 16,595 | 3.71% | |||
| Basic Income | 4 | Moon Hyeon-chul | 3,344 | 0.74% | |||
| Total | 446,770 | align=right colspan=2 | 100.00% | ||||
| Voter turnout | 37.66% | ||||||