[Interview] Kim Young-jong, Mayor of Jongno-gu, "I Will Complete a Premium City with Awards Including No.1 in Administrative Service Satisfaction"

2020 Service Quality Index Survey Presidential Award Winner, Honored as the First Autonomous District to Receive the Presidential Award at the 5th Korea Crime Prevention Awards

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] “The No. 1 spot in the 2020 Administrative Service Satisfaction is even more valuable because it is the result evaluated by the residents. For the remainder of the 7th term of the local government, we will complete the ‘people-centered premium city’ with the trust and support you have given us so far.”

Kim Young-jong, Mayor of Jongno-gu, expressed these sentiments, stating that the district has proven the excellence of its administration by winning first place among Seoul’s 25 autonomous districts in the ‘2020 Service Quality Index (KS-SQI)’ survey conducted by the Korea Standards Association, followed by receiving the Presidential Award and Prime Minister’s Award at various ceremonies.

The Administrative Service Quality Index survey, in which Jongno-gu ranked first, was conducted by the Korea Standards Association targeting 47 local governments: 25 autonomous districts in Seoul, 16 cities in Gyeonggi Province with populations over 300,000, and 6 districts in Incheon Metropolitan City. The survey was based on residents who had used administrative services in their area at least once in the past six months, evaluating factors such as ‘whether the desired administrative service was provided,’ ‘fair handling of tasks,’ ‘courteous response,’ and ‘reliability of work.’ As a result, the average service quality score among Seoul’s 25 autonomous districts was 68.7 points, with Jongno-gu receiving 71.5 points, the highest score among the districts, revealing that residents are most satisfied with administrative services there. Mayor Kim said, “This is entirely thanks to the staff who have worked hard to implement administration trusted by the residents.” Considering that Seongnam City in Gyeonggi Province scored 68.8 points and Yeonsu-gu in Incheon scored 67.6 points, Jongno-gu ranked first overall among metropolitan area local governments surveyed this year, following its 2019 performance, effectively placing it first nationwide.

Additionally, on October 28, Jongno-gu was honored as the first autonomous district to receive the Presidential Award at the ‘5th Korea Crime Prevention Awards’ hosted by the National Police Agency.

The ‘Korea Crime Prevention Awards’ is a prestigious award given to public institutions, companies, and social organizations that have shown outstanding achievements in building safe communities in response to the growing public demand for crime prevention.

In September of this year, Jongno-gu also received the Presidential Award at the ‘16th Korea Local Autonomy Management Competition’ based on the achievements of the Donu-dong Saetteul Village Project.

Jongno-gu, which has consistently received excellent evaluations through consecutive awards, implemented the ‘Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) Project’ targeting the Donu-dong shantytown area, which had long been stigmatized as a high-crime area isolated from the local community, achieving results recognized by the Crime Prevention Award. Mayor Kim said, “Since 2015, we have been promoting various projects in the Donu-dong shantytown area to support the sustainable self-reliance and independence of shantytown residents and enable them to live dignified lives. As part of this, the CPTED project involves installing a total of 19 types of facilities and improving the environment safely in this area.”

Through these strenuous efforts for crime prevention, Jongno-gu succeeded in reducing the occurrence of the five major crimes by 26% over the past nine months compared to the previous year. The district plans to expand the CPTED project throughout the area and complete the ‘Jongno-gu Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Basic Plan and Guidelines’ within this year to support all residents in enjoying a safe and happy life evenly.

Furthermore, on the 18th of last month, Jongno-gu received the Prime Minister’s Award at the ‘2020 Second Half Active Administration Competition’ jointly hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Personnel Management, setting an exemplary case for other local governments with the ‘Inwangsan Guard Post Bookstore’ project. Mayor Kim explained, “The Inwangsan Guard Post Bookstore is a case where a guard post building, which was scheduled for demolition and had housed police forces for protection following the 1968 North Korean army’s Blue House raid attempt, known as the Kim Shin-jo incident, was reborn as a resting space for citizens.”

This area saw an increase in visitors after Inwangsan was fully opened in 2018, but new construction was difficult due to various regulatory laws such as military control zones and urban natural park zones. Jongno-gu focused on the fact that the area around the police guard post has beautiful terrain and good views, and over three years pursued a plan to ‘regenerate’ the site for citizens instead of ‘demolishing’ it, opening the guard post bookstore on the Inwangsan foothill trail accessible to all citizens.

Mayor Kim Young-jong said, “We will not be satisfied with the consecutive awards but will continue to discover and promote various projects, big and small, that can improve residents’ quality of life. We aim to conclude this year calmly, focusing on residents’ happiness and safety while responding steadily to the prolonged COVID-19 situation. To achieve the changes residents desire in Jongno, we will not lose the initial resolve of ‘starting small but doing it properly.’”

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