Haenam-gun, No.1 in ESG Evaluation in Jeonnam, Only County Nationwide Awarded 'Best' in Governance Section

ESG Happiness Economy Institute Evaluates ESG Index for 226 Local Governments Nationwide

Haenam-gun Local Government Head Recognized for Excellent Achievements Including Pledge Fulfillment

Haenam County was selected as an excellent case at the Manifesto Competition, and County Governor Myeonhyun Kwan is delivering his remarks. Photo by Asia Economy

[Haenam＝Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Hyun] Haenam-gun, Jeollanam-do ranked first in Jeonnam Province in the nationwide basic local government ESG evaluation.

According to the county on the 15th, this evaluation, hosted by the ESG Happy Economy Research Institute, compared and evaluated the administrative systems and capabilities of basic local governments in the areas of Environment, Social, and Governance, which have emerged as a national task.

The evaluation was conducted on 226 basic local governments belonging to 15 metropolitan local governments nationwide, excluding Sejong City and Jeju-do, which have no subordinate basic local governments, covering 51 indicators. This was the first ESG evaluation of basic local governments in Korea.

Haenam-gun received an overall excellent (A) grade and was the only county-level local government nationwide to be selected for the highest (S) grade in the governance category, demonstrating outstanding ESG capabilities.

The governance category of the ESG evaluation consists of evaluation elements such as the promises of the head of the organization, financial efficiency and soundness, resident participation and council activities, and innovation evaluations over the past three years.

Haenam-gun has been recognized as the most exemplary local government in fulfilling promises during the 7th local election term by winning the highest grade (SA) for three consecutive years in the nationwide basic local government head promise fulfillment and information disclosure evaluation hosted by the Korea Manifesto Practice Headquarters, and by winning awards for three consecutive years in the Manifesto Best Practice Competition to discover excellent promise fulfillment cases.

Since the launch of the 7th local election term, 65 promises confirmed through commitments with residents have shown a 95% implementation rate, and all major promise projects are expected to be completed within this year.

In addition, the county is putting all efforts into planned and active local financial management to stimulate the local economy in response to COVID-19, invigorating investment expansion and timely promotion of key projects.

Since the 7th local election term, the scale of local finances has surpassed 1 trillion won, and the execution rate has increased from 66.7% in 2017 to 82.1% last year, becoming a driving force for the rapid promotion of the county’s key projects.

Along with this, Haenam-gun achieved the second grade for three consecutive years as the only local government in Jeonnam Province in the 2020 nationwide public institution integrity evaluation hosted by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, and also received the highest score in the comprehensive integrity evaluation among 22 cities and counties.

Good evaluations were also received for establishing a foundation for activating resident public forums by operating community activation councils that actively spread resident-led autonomous activities, as well as community projects and the county resident jury system.

County Governor Myeong Hyun-gwan said, “The acquisition of the highest grade in this ESG evaluation is the result of Haenam-gun prioritizing promises to residents and working hard,” and added, “We will continue to do our best to create a Haenam that residents trust and a Haenam worth living in through continuous communication administration.”

Haenam＝Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Hyun kh0424@asiae.co.kr

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