Seoyangho, Mayor of Jung-gu Seoul, Receives Local Autonomy Development Award

Promotion of Jung-gu Type Administrative Innovation Dong Government Project Transferring District Authority and Budget to Dong...Recognition of Achievements in Dong Resident Participation Budget System Operation

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Seo Yang-ho, Mayor of Jung-gu, Seoul, has been selected as the winner in the basic local government head category of the '2020 Korea Autonomy Development Awards,' organized by the Korea Institute for Autonomy Development and sponsored by the Korean Association for Local Autonomy.

The Korea Institute for Autonomy Development stated the reason for the selection was "highly evaluating the Dong government project that realizes resident autonomy through the delegation of authority to the Dong, the administrative unit most closely related to residents' lives."

Jung-gu established the Dong Government Division for the first time nationwide in January last year and is actively promoting the construction of living SOC (Social Overhead Capital) that allows all public services to be accessed within a 10-minute walk, along with innovation in Dong-level public services, decentralization, and strengthening resident participation.

The district transferred 79 tasks closely related to residents' lives from the district office to the Dong, granted budget allocation authority to the Dong Community Centers, and in 2020, formulated a resident-participatory Dong government budget totaling 146 cases worth 8.8 billion KRW.

Jung-gu's unique 'Resident-Participatory Dong Government Budget,' which attracted attention with fresh attempts such as expanding resident participation levels and authority, and online project proposals and voting, was also selected as the best local government among 243 local governments nationwide in the '2019 Comprehensive Evaluation of Resident Participation Budget System Operation' hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

In addition, Jung-gu is implementing various public service projects centered on the Dong to provide daily administrative services closely related to residents' lives, such as civil complaints, cleaning, health, and parks, quickly and nearby residents. These include promoting 'Civil Administration Innovation Tasks,' deploying 'one public officer (environmental cleaner) per Dong,' operating 'Clean Codi,' creating 'Green Toilets' in parks, and expanding resident jobs. Thanks to these efforts, the number of residents who feel a revolutionary improvement in the quality of administrative services is steadily increasing.

Seo Yang-ho, Mayor of Jung-gu, said, "This award is an achievement made together with the support and participation of residents. The past two years have been a time of changing the paradigm of administration and by no means an easy journey. However, we are moving forward driven by residents' responses that 'the neighborhood has changed since the Dong government started.' We will continue to do our best to create a city for Jung-gu residents."

The award ceremony is scheduled to be held on October 13 at the Baekbeom Kim Koo Memorial Hall in Hyochang Park, Yongsan-gu, Seoul.

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