main building. Jongno is considered the most important
district in
South Korean politics as it is located in the heart of Seoul, and thus in the heart of South Korea. The district was the home to the
Blue House (), the official residence of the
president of South Korea, until 2022. It is also home to two of the three largest plazas in Seoul, the first being
Gwanghwamun Plaza and the other being
Cheonggye Plaza, making the district the first constituency to appear in the
National Election Commission's election statistics and exit polls for every nationwide election. Because of the district's political significance, every political party carefully selects its own candidate to run in every election and even most minor parties nominate their candidates to run in the district while they choose not to nominate candidates for other constituencies in Seoul. Jongno has elected three
presidents to represent it in the
National Assembly:
Yun Posun,
Roh Moo-hyun and
Lee Myung-bak. Although Jongno is a district, its residents are entitled to elect their own mayor and form their own district council, as 25 districts in Seoul——including Jongno——have city-equivalent status. The City of Seoul has province-equivalent status and its
mayor is regarded as a cabinet-minister-level position. The mayorship is regarded as a higher position than all other provincial governors as these positions are regarded as deputy minister level positions. The district has been traditionally regarded as a
conservative stronghold in Seoul as Seoul natives and wealthy people used to form a majority in terms of resident numbers in towns such as Pyeongchang, Samcheong-dong, Sajik-dong, Jongro 1, and Jongro 4. However, as
Democrats began to gradually gain power in the
Sudogwon region in the 2010s and eventually made the region their stronghold, the party also gained power in the district due to the votes of
Sungkyunkwan University students in Hyehwa-dong and residents of relatively lower income in towns such as
Changsin-dong and
Sungin-dong. As of June 2020, the district was regarded as
Democratic stronghold, as are many other constituencies in Seoul. The district was represented by
Lee Nak-yon, a
Democrat, former
Prime Minister and leader of
his party, who resigned his office to run for the Korean presidency; the city government was led by Kim Yeong-jong, a
Democrat three-term mayor who served from July 2010 to November 2021. The conservative
People Power Party made a comeback in the district when
Choi Jae-hyung was elected as National Assembly member for Jongno in the March 2022 by-elections. In the subsequent local elections in June, Chung Moon-heon, a member of the same party, was elected mayor. The headquarters of the
Ministry of Security and Public Administration is located in the
Seoul Government Complex in Jongno District. The third and fourth floors of the same building house the
Ministry of Unification. The headquarters of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs is located in the MOFA Building in Jongno District. Previously, the
Ministry of Education had its headquarters in the Central Government Complex in Jongno District. The
Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also had its headquarters in Jongno District. The
Ministry of Health and Welfare had its headquarters in the
Hyundai Building. The offices of those ministries have moved to
Sejong City. Before it merged into another ministry in 2008, the
Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries was also located in Jongro-gu. It was re-established in Sejong City. ==Diplomatic missions==