Selected as an Excellent Case of Active Administration by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Including 'Rapid Payment of Emergency Disaster Relief Funds'

Record-High Local Fiscal Execution and Highest Voter Turnout in General Election Amid COVID-19
Leading Efforts to Address Safety Management and Regional Vitality in the Second Half

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Amid the difficult situation facing the domestic economy due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the process of swiftly distributing the government's emergency disaster relief fund worth 14.3 trillion won was recognized as an "exemplary case of proactive administration" by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced four exemplary cases of proactive administration in the first half of the year and key tasks for the second half at the vice ministerial meeting held on the morning of the 10th.

The first exemplary case selected by the Ministry was the distribution of the "COVID-19 Emergency Disaster Relief Fund" last May. The key factors that enabled the rapid distribution of emergency disaster relief funds to all citizens during the national crisis caused by the infectious disease were effective collaboration management, time management, and civil complaint management through proactive administration.

The Ministry stated that through collaboration with credit card companies, citizens were able to apply directly to credit card companies without the need to open a government website, allowing the funds to be distributed conveniently and securely. To prevent bottlenecks, the distribution was carried out sequentially by policy target groups, and the Ministry responded proactively to various inquiries and complaints that arose during the process. As a result of these efforts, the government was able to complete distribution to 98.2% of all households nationwide within two months from the policy announcement date and one month from the budget approval date.

The second exemplary case of proactive administration introduced was the "Rapid Execution of Local Finance." By swiftly improving systems such as shortening the bidding period, conducting investment reviews on an as-needed basis, and expanding the advance payment rate to 80%, the Ministry executed the largest scale of local finance ever, achieving an execution rate of 69.2% in the first half of this year alone. This rate is 8.4 percentage points higher than the same period last year.

Successfully conducting the 21st general election in a stable manner amid the COVID-19 pandemic was also included as an exemplary case. While many countries around the world postponed scheduled elections due to the spread of COVID-19, South Korea redesigned the election process with measures such as social distancing inside and outside polling stations and disinfection measures before and after voting, holding a large-scale nationwide election and recording the highest voter turnout in 28 years at 66.2% for the National Assembly election.

Another proactive administration case was the revolutionary improvement of the government awards system, which had been operated conventionally. The Ministry made the number and scale of awards publicly available to the public, mandated public participation through online voting, and excluded the hosting and organizing by specific institutions, marking the first improvement in 50 years.

The Ministry plans to focus its capabilities on resolving urgent issues directly related to citizens' lives in the second half of the year, such as safety management, revitalization of local communities, and alleviation of residents' inconveniences. Key tasks include ▲improving traffic facilities for children's safety ▲creating villages where young people want to live to revitalize local areas ▲improving public forms for residents' convenience ▲and comprehensive maintenance of flood and wind disaster living zones to strengthen disaster prevention.

Lee Jae-young, Vice Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, emphasized, "To overcome the current difficulties and lead the post-COVID-19 era, it is more important than anything else to practice proactive administration that goes beyond old methods and existing systems."

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