Gwangju City Selects Omusul and Kim Taesun as 'Employee of the Month'

On the 1st, Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, presented awards to Omusul (Health Policy Division, photo left) and Kim Tae-soon (Health and Environment Research Institute), who were selected as the 'Public Officials of March.' Photo by Gwangju Metropolitan City

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced that it selected Oh Mu-sul, administrative officer of the Health Policy Division in the Welfare and Health Bureau, and Kim Tae-sun, administrative officer of the Infectious Disease Investigation Division at the Health and Environment Research Institute, as the ‘March Public Officials’ and awarded them at the executive meeting held in the city hall’s mid-sized conference room on the 1st.

They were recognized for their contributions to establishing a rapid testing system and a treatment system to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infections within the region, which first emerged in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and spread throughout China and worldwide.

Oh Mu-sul, administrative officer of the Health Policy Division, began his public service career at the Health and Environment Research Institute in 1994 and has been working in the city’s Health Policy Division since 2016. As a professional in the health field, he has actively promoted various tasks including infectious disease management, public hygiene management, food safety management, and laboratory analysis with pride.

In response to the community spread of COVID-19, Officer Oh expanded the epidemiological investigation team from one team of eight members to three teams of fourteen members, including private expert doctors, nurses, and administrative staff, to ensure rapid epidemiological investigations and quarantine measures.

This contributed to minimizing the number of infected patients within the region.

He is also doing his best to overcome the emergency situation and alleviate citizens’ anxiety by preparing measures for large-scale patient outbreaks caused by COVID-19, such as operating negative pressure beds at infectious disease management institutions, designating infectious disease-dedicated hospitals, and running residential treatment centers for mild patients.

Kim Tae-sun, administrative officer who has been working as a health researcher at the Health and Environment Research Institute since April 2008, played a significant role in establishing early laboratory testing methods and systems for coronavirus in preparation for the COVID-19 outbreak, thereby solidifying the status of the Honam region’s infectious disease testing hub.

In line with the escalation of the infectious disease disaster crisis alert, he promptly strengthened and expanded the 24-hour emergency testing system and contributed to establishing a community crisis response system for new infectious diseases by introducing rapid testing methods that notify results within six hours.

Additionally, based on years of testing experience, he has flexibly responded to emergencies such as ensuring the safety of laboratory personnel exposed to negative pressure environments for extended periods and preventing pathogen leakage outside the laboratory.

Officer Oh Mu-sul said, “Since citizens, medical staff, and public officials are all united in making their best efforts to overcome the COVID-19 crisis, I believe the current situation will soon come to an end. I hope everyone actively cooperates with social distancing and endures just a little longer.”

Officer Kim Tae-sun expressed his thoughts, saying, “Taking this award as an opportunity, I will work even harder to conduct fast and accurate testing and do my best to prevent confirmed cases within the region.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.