Heo Seok, Mayor of Suncheon, Receives Governance Local Politics Award for Rights Movement

Suncheon City's Quarantine Movement Unites Public and Private Sectors, Double Celebration with External Awards

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Hyung-kwon] Heo Seok, mayor of Suncheon, announced on the 2nd that he received the Excellence Award in the COVID-19 Response category at the '3rd Governance Local Politics Awards' hosted by the Governance Center.

Heo Seok Mayor won the Excellence Award by submitting "Overcoming COVID-19 through the Sharing Vaccine, Suncheon-style Gwonbun (權分) Movement," the special theme this year in the COVID-19 response category.

With this, Suncheon City's Gwonbun Movement achieved the great feat of winning the Governance Local Politics Award following its selection as an excellent case at the Good Local Autonomy Policy Conference on the 31st of last month.

The Suncheon City Gwonbun Movement is a campaign to overcome COVID-19 with the power of citizens, inheriting the spirit of Gwonbun, which encouraged sharing from the wealthy during famines in the Joseon Dynasty.

Starting from the Gwonbun packages delivered to vulnerable groups (Season 1), it has now expanded to the 'Shoulder-to-Shoulder Store' for students (Season 5), practicing the spirit of sharing among all walks of citizens facing difficulties due to COVID-19.

Mayor Heo Seok, who has emphasized horizontal and cooperative leadership even before taking office, said, "Although I proposed Gwonbun, it was the citizens who actually embodied and practiced that spirit," adding, "I will continue to strengthen Suncheon's autonomy and decentralization capabilities through solidarity and cooperation with citizens," expressing his gratitude for the award.

Now in its third year, the Governance Local Politics Awards were established to discover, disseminate, and expand proper autonomy and decentralization activities and to support and foster competent and healthy local politicians and activities. This year, seven categories including COVID-19 response, expansion of resident convenience, and enhancement of administrative efficiency were open for applications, with 70 local government heads and local council members participating.

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