Haenam-gun, Active Residents' Autonomy Committees... The Era of Residents' Autonomy Fully Opens

Complete Formation of All Eup and Myeon Residents' Autonomy Committees by Next Year, Full-Scale Haenam-Style Residents' Autonomy Begins

We are conducting a campaign to revitalize small schools in Bukil-myeon. Photo by Asia Economy

[Haenam＝Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Hyun] Haenam-gun, Jeollanam-do is experiencing a new wave of resident autonomy.

According to the county on the 26th, during the 7th local government administration, an Innovation Community Division was newly established through organizational restructuring, accelerating resident autonomy and community revitalization in areas such as autonomous innovation, social economy, and village vitality.

By last year, the county had formed resident autonomy committees in 11 eup and myeon (towns and townships), and three locations?Samsan, Bukil, and Gyegok myeon?were selected as pilot autonomous councils by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, completing resident autonomy organizations in all eup and myeon.

This year, five myeon additionally established resident autonomy councils, and by next year, resident autonomy councils are planned to be formed in all 14 eup and myeon, fully opening the era of resident autonomy.

In particular, Haenam-gun is attracting attention by building different models according to eup and myeon to enable residents themselves to diagnose local problems and find solutions.

Examples of Haenam-type autonomous models actively operating include: the Hyeonsan-myeon historical exploration to preserve local cultural heritage and history; the Bukpyeong-myeon village education community where villages, students, and adults create education together; the Bukil-myeon small school revival where private, public, and academic sectors gather to solve the crisis of school closures; Okcheon-myeon’s social economy model for vulnerable groups; Masan-myeon where the entire village forms a community; and Sanim-myeon’s efforts to revitalize the region through local specialty product recipes.

The county is also sparing no support to nurture talent and establish a systematic cooperative governance system to back resident autonomy.

To cultivate activists as grassroots leaders who will lead resident autonomy and communities, the county operates an Autonomous Activist Academy, having trained 26 activists last year and 53 this year.

Haenam-gun’s resident autonomy has been recognized as an excellent case nationwide, winning the grand prize for two consecutive years at the National Resident Autonomy Expo and also receiving awards for two consecutive years in the core talent development contest for autonomy and innovation, acknowledging its achievements.

County Governor Myeong Hyun-gwan stated, “Next year, resident autonomy councils will expand to all eup and myeon, further activating resident autonomy. We will develop Haenam-type resident autonomy through the establishment of a private cooperative governance system. The county will also spare no support to ensure that Ttangkkeut Haenam becomes the most exemplary case of resident autonomy nationwide.”

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

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