Suwon Mayor Lee Jae-jun Elected as 6th President of World Toilet Association (WTA)

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Jung Jun-sung] Suwon Metropolitan City Mayor Lee Jae-jun has been elected as the 6th president of the World Toilet Association (WTA). His term will run until November 9, 2025.

Mayor Lee was elected as president at the 'WTA 6th Regular General Assembly' held on the 23rd at Suwon Convention Center, making him the third Suwon mayor to serve as president, following former Mayor Shim Jae-deok, the founding president, and former Mayor Yeum Tae-young (Deputy Director of Gyeonggi Province Economy), who served as the 3rd, 4th, and 5th presidents.

Mayor Lee Jae-jun stated, "I will gather wisdom so that the toilet culture improvement movement that started in Suwon leads to a global cultural revolution," and "I will not stop until all humankind can use clean toilets."

He continued, "Beyond just building toilets, I will make many people empathize with their value," and "I will unite with WTA members to change toilets and move forward in changing the future of humanity."

The World Toilet Association was founded in 2007 at the proposal of the late former Suwon Mayor Shim Jae-deok (1939–2009, 1st and 2nd elected term), who had a deep passion for the toilet culture movement. Former Mayor Shim proposed the establishment of the 'World Toilet Association' at the 6th World Toilet Summit held in 2006, and the WTA founding general assembly was held in Seoul in November the following year.

The WTA, which aims to improve the health and sanitation levels of the world's people through clean toilets, is carrying out the 'Toilet of Hope Project,' which builds public toilets in developing countries where toilet facilities are insufficient and sanitation conditions are poor.

Starting with the support for construction of public toilets in 12 locations across 9 countries in Africa and Asia—including Ghana, Kenya, Laos, Mongolia, and Cambodia in 2008–2009—the WTA has continued to support the construction of public toilets in developing countries.

Additionally, the WTA holds the 'World Toilet Leaders Forum' and 'World Toilet Culture Youth Forum,' and consistently conducts research activities such as investigations into global basic sanitation conditions and development of sustainable toilet models. The WTA has enacted 'World Toilet Technical Standards' and is carrying out collaborative projects with international and private organizations both domestic and abroad, including the UN and KOICA (Korea International Cooperation Agency).