Yongsan-gu, Increasing Residents' Happiness Index through Integrity and Proactive Administration!

Establishment of the 2021 Integrity Improvement Comprehensive Plan... Four Major Implementation Strategies Including 'Creating an Honest Public Service Culture'... Organizational Restructuring Conducted... Seoul's Autonomous District's First Active Administration Promotion Team Established

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Yongsan-gu (District Mayor Seong Chang-hyun) has established the ‘2021 Comprehensive Plan for Improving Integrity’ and is implementing various integrity policies aiming for a top-tier public institution integrity rating.

The goal is to become ‘Yongsan, an Integrity City that Moves Its Residents.’

They will implement four main strategies: ▲Creating an honest public service culture ▲Building anti-corruption integrity infrastructure ▲Special audits in vulnerable areas ▲Enhancing administrative transparency and reliability.

The district focuses on ‘Creating an honest public service culture’ through integrity self-learning, online Integrity Golden Bell quizzes, humanities integrity concerts (online), new employee Cheongbaekri visits, and the 11th Cheongbaek Outstanding Public Official selection, involving all staff in integrity education and events.

Major public official misconduct such as workplace power abuse and sexual crimes will also be prevented in advance. Related training is conducted in connection with integrity education, and an integrated reporting window for public official misconduct is operated by the district’s audit office.

In cases of misconduct by employees, strict punishment will be enforced under a ‘zero tolerance’ principle.

In particular, to build ‘anti-corruption integrity infrastructure,’ the audit office underwent organizational restructuring. The Integrity Audit Team (formerly the Audit Team), the Proactive Administration Promotion Team (formerly the Environmental Patrol Team), and the Routine Audit Team (formerly the Contract Review Team) were newly established, laying the foundation to strengthen organizational capabilities.

This approach is based on the judgment that integrity desired by residents includes not only blocking improper solicitations and corrupt acts but also reforming passive administration such as unfriendliness, habitual practices, and delays in handling civil complaints.

Last year, the district marked the first year of proactive administration by implementing policies such as selecting outstanding public officials and providing in-depth workplace training. Furthermore, this year, Yongsan-gu became the first autonomous district in Seoul to establish the Proactive Administration Promotion Team and is actively promoting proactive administration through various systems such as pre-consultation and expanded immunity systems for proactive administration.

Additionally, by continuously operating the ‘autonomous internal control system’ and ‘local ordinance corruption impact assessment,’ the district preemptively blocks corruption risks. It also strengthens special audits in vulnerable areas by promoting ‘visiting customized friendly consulting by neighborhood’ and ‘joint patrol inspections by district.’

The audit office also operates centers for reporting improper solicitations, civil complaint irregularities, public interest reports, and subcontract irregularities, accepting external reports on violations of various laws and systems.

This is to maximize residents’ trust in district administration.

Other plans include ▲Integrity and friendliness happy calls (continuous monitoring of vulnerable areas) ▲Operation of resident honorary auditors ▲Publication of audit casebooks ▲Inspection of civil complaint handling practices, all aimed at realizing a transparent and fair Yongsan.

Last year, the district received a comprehensive integrity rating of grade 2 in the public institution integrity evaluation conducted by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission. Both external and internal integrity ratings were grade 2, the highest among all basic local governments (autonomous districts) nationwide.

Seong Chang-hyun, Mayor of Yongsan-gu, said, “Integrity is the most important virtue and duty for public officials, and in today’s era demanding transparent public service, it is the most crucial value. We will create a Yongsan-gu where residents are happy and trust the administration through proactive governance.”

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