[This Person] Cha Hyun-il, Yeongdeungpo District Mayor's Extensive 'On-Foot Administration'?How Far Will It Go?

Exploring Every Alley in the 'Guseokguseok Neighborhood Tour'... Breaking Departmental Boundaries in the 3.1 Movement 100th Anniversary National March... Benchmarking Reaches Other Local Governments

Yeongdeungpo-gu Mayor Chae Hyun-il is having a conversation with senior citizens during a neighborhood tour in Singil 5-dong on the 18th of last month.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Chaehyunil, the mayor of Yeongdeungpo District Office, is gaining attention for strengthening communication with residents through extensive "footwork administration."

After graduating from Seoul National University with a degree in political science, and building a strong career as an aide to a prominent member of the National Assembly, a political aide to the Seoul mayor, and an administrator at the Blue House, Mayor Chae was elected as the mayor of Yeongdeungpo District in the 7th local election. He is showing his diligent steps as a "hardworking mayor" who visits various sites around Yeongdeungpo every day.

2:30 PM school route inspection, 3:00 PM Nobel Stationery, 3:10 PM Clean House, 3:20 PM Daerim Real Estate, 3:30 PM Onnuri Distribution Food Stall, 3:50 PM YDP Future Lifelong Learning Center, 4:10 PM Our Neighborhood Korean Restaurant.

This was part of Mayor Chaehyunil’s "Neighborhood Exploration" schedule on June 8.

"Neighborhood Exploration" started in April as part of the "footwork administration" to hear vivid voices from the field and reflect them in district administration, after direct meetings with residents were limited due to COVID-19.

Starting from Dangsan 2-dong on April 13 to Daerim 3-dong on June 7, he visited 15 neighborhoods to listen to residents' opinions. The visit targets included schools, apartment management offices, hair salons, real estate agencies, restaurants, supermarkets, and other places where residents' opinions could be gathered.

Most of the feedback received were general daily life complaints such as construction noise, illegal parking, and illegal dumping of garbage. Depending on the type, issues will be resolved immediately or selected as long-term district administration tasks for review and processing.

The reason for this "footwork administration" is to realize the 7th local government’s ideology of "communication and cooperation." Mayor Chae emphasized, "My role is to coordinate the wishes of the residents with the administrative experts, the staff. To do that, communication with the residents must be fundamental."

□ Communication efforts started with the 7th local government

Mayor Chae’s communication efforts began with the start of the 7th local government. Upon taking office, he launched the online public forum "Yeongdeungpo 1st Street" and the "Yeongdeungpo 1st Street Communication Tour," which involved visiting residents directly to hear their voices and reflect them in policies.

The stories gathered online and from all 18 neighborhoods were steadily accumulated and began to be reflected in district administration.

The first project was the reorganization of street vendors around Yeongdeungpo Station on Yeongjung-ro. Yeongdeungpo Station is a transportation hub and can be considered the face of Yeongdeungpo District.

However, street vendors who had been stationed in front of the station for over 50 years not only impaired the city’s aesthetics but also posed significant problems for hygiene and pedestrian safety.

Due to expected strong opposition from the street vendors, this uncomfortable truth had not been attempted before. However, Mayor Chae pushed forward, driven by residents’ wishes, achieving the reorganization of 70 street vendors into 26 street stalls.

There were no physical clashes commonly seen at demolition sites during the process. Mayor Chae reflected, "The key to solving the problem was communication. I met and talked over 100 times to coordinate opinions between street vendors and nearby merchants."

Besides this, he has consistently communicated with residents through initiatives such as "Visiting Yeongdeungpo 1st Street" and "Open Alley Day." Earlier this year, in response to the COVID-19 spread, he also tried untact communication using an online video conferencing system called "Open Resident Communication," which received favorable reviews.

□ The national march breaking down departmental boundaries

Among Mayor Chae’s "footwork administration," the "100th Anniversary of the March 1st Movement National March" held in 2019 stands out.

The event was planned following Mayor Chae’s proposal to create an organizational culture of communication and harmony among staff and to hold a meaningful event commemorating the 100th anniversary of the March 1st Movement.

The national march started from Yeongdeungpo District Office on March 29 and proceeded to the Independence Hall in Cheonan, Chungnam, over a 3-night, 4-day schedule ending on April 1. Participants visited the Jeam-ri March 1st Movement Martyrs Memorial and the Yu Gwan-sun Memorial Site, reflecting on the significance of the March 1st Movement, and engaged in "plogging" activities, picking up trash while walking.

Mayor Chae and 100 staff members were divided into four groups and walked a total of 139 km together. Participants shared, "It was an opportunity to get to know colleagues we usually did not know well, and it was a meaningful march to share and discuss difficulties across departments."

□ Footwork administration beyond Yeongdeungpo District

Mayor Chae’s footwork administration extends beyond Yeongdeungpo District to other local governments. Starting with Seodaemun-gu’s "Seoul Foreign School" in 2019, he visited 19 local governments including Geumcheon-gu’s "Doksan 4-dong," Eunpyeong-gu’s "Gusan-dong Library Village," Dobong-gu’s "Banghakcheon Culture and Arts Street," and Yongin City’s "Children’s Imagination Forest" for benchmarking.

In particular, Eunpyeong-gu’s "Gusan-dong Library Village" and Paju City’s "Forest of Wisdom Library" greatly inspired the district’s ongoing projects such as the "One Neighborhood One Village Library Construction Project" and the "Landmark Library Construction" project. These visits became an opportunity to transform libraries from being "book-centered" to "people-centered."

In the first year of benchmarking, he actively visited 15 local governments at an average of more than once a month, but activities seemed to slow down after the severe COVID-19 situation last year.

This year, he visited Hanam City’s "Union Park" to explore ways to improve waste treatment facilities and Seongbuk-gu’s "Seongbuk District Art Museum" to contemplate the vision for cultural and urban Yeongdeungpo District.

Mayor Chae said, "Many stories heard on-site become the foundation for district development. I will do my best to ensure that district administration and residents’ wishes align through continuous footwork administration."

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