Suncheon City, Communication Policies Penetrating More Broadly and Deeply into 290,000 Citizens

Building communication channels that draw out even hidden citizens.
Seeking change through clear public discourse differentiation by communication policy.
The voices of citizens bear fruit as policies.

Mayor Heo Seok of Suncheon held an open forum to create a space for communication where current issues could be discussed and considered together with the citizens.

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Hyung-kwon] Suncheon City (Mayor Heo Seok) announced a new communication policy trusted by citizens on the 25th.

At the foundation of the name "trust" lies genuine communication between each other and the trust built through communication.

So far, Suncheon City has devoted efforts to communication policies to create a city trusted by its citizens.

By providing public forums such as plaza discussions, casual talks, and Starry Night Talks, the city has naturally spread the perception of being a democratic city and worked to create a foundation where citizens, who were unfamiliar with participation and communication, could voluntarily engage.

Last year, the major obstacle of COVID-19 threatened the communication link between the city and its citizens that Suncheon had maintained, but the city is establishing new communication methods through online platforms and other means.

Suncheon City especially designates this year as the inaugural year of the "Year of Discovering Hidden Participants," opening communication channels regardless of location such as villages, alleys, and tents, aiming to complete a mature democratic city where any citizen can identify local issues and find solutions.

▶ Establish communication channels that draw out even hidden citizens.

Past governments and many local governments have always emphasized "communication with the people (citizens)."

However, since communication was conducted through government-led systems, most citizens, who should be the main participants, did not feel it personally.

Suncheon City also faced limitations where citizen participation was mainly limited to people in their 40s and 50s, and the form of participation was limited to simple attendance.

Therefore, this year, the city will focus on collective housing and women's associations, which have high ripple effects on participation expansion, to discover hidden participants in city administration.

Through the renewal of the online platform OK! Communication 1st Street, the city plans to establish a participation base that transcends time and space and build a two-way communication channel where citizens can participate not only in administrative information delivery and civil complaint processing but also in the process of implementing policies proposed by citizens.

This year, the city will strengthen communication that deeply penetrates the field so that no citizen is excluded due to lack of information, concentrating administrative capabilities to ensure citizen satisfaction with city administration.

▶ Seek change through clear differentiation of public discourse by communication policy.

Suncheon City's 7th elected administration stood out for its belief that "the answer lies in the field" and its communication efforts with citizens accordingly.

Representative policies include plaza discussions, casual talks, and Starry Night Talks.

In particular, the 22 sessions of plaza discussions, casual talks, and Starry Night Talks, with 2,340 participants, received very high responses and are highly regarded for sharing various ideas and proposals about city administration rather than simple complaints.

This year, the city will differentiate the concept and public discourse topics for each communication policy, selecting clearer agendas and promoting realistic communication policies rather than simple complaint submissions.

Communication policies will include Jeongdam (Emotional Talk), Starry Night Talk, and Hyundap Discussion.

First, Jeongdam (Emotional Talk) will visit collective housing and women's associations twice a month, focusing on resolving small-scale issues and receiving city administration proposals, leading to frank communication and the realization of a friendly city administration image.

Starry Night Talk is a representative communication policy of Suncheon City, which achieved results such as making 39 tons (20,000 heads) of kimchi based on ideas proposed by citizens and sharing it with about 7,000 underprivileged people.

This year, the city plans to visit marginalized areas such as farming and fishing villages and remote villages to resolve residents' difficulties.

Hyundap Discussion is a newly developed policy this year, where agendas linked to income and job creation are pre-registered and selected, and discussions are held once every six months.

As the name "Hyundap Discussion" suggests, it is expected to become Suncheon City's flagship policy that obtains answers from the field, wise answers, and answers to current issues, where citizens' proposals lead to policy decisions and results.

▶ Citizens' voices bear fruit as policies.

Suncheon City's communication policies are a "public deliberation forum" where all citizens share opinions and reflect outcomes in city administration operations.

However, in reality, there are criticisms that post-management from communication to policy realization has been insufficient, contrary to the original intent.

While existing communication policies focused on listening to voices from the field, this year the city will devote all efforts to creating a policy reflection system where citizens' difficulties can be directly turned into policies.

First, issues requiring policy reflection will be submitted to the newly formed "Citizen Sovereignty Committee" for more in-depth discussion.

The submitted issues will be edited into videos of the discussion process and uploaded on YouTube so that more citizens can vividly observe them.

Additionally, a pilot system will be introduced where citizens directly approve policies decided based on citizen proposals.

Satisfaction surveys and evaluations of city administration participants will also be conducted at the end of the year to further enhance the effectiveness of the policies.

Mayor Heo Seok of Suncheon said, "We are entering spring. It is the time when plants that survived winter draw up the nutrients they have accumulated to sprout." He added, "The operation of city administration will also fully draw up the nutrients of 'participation and communication' under the core value that 'citizens are the owners' to bloom the flower of city administration that satisfies citizens." expressing his determination.

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