Heo Seok, Mayor of Suncheon, Announces This Year's Administrative Operation Keywords: 'Recovering Daily Life, Reviving Economy'

At around 11 a.m. on the 3rd, Heo Seok, the mayor of Suncheon, is briefing at the New Year's press conference held in the main conference room of Suncheon City Hall.

[Suncheon=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Hyung-kwon] Heo Seok, mayor of Suncheon, declared the city’s administrative goal for this year, the fourth year of the 7th elected term, as “Restoring Daily Life, Reviving the Economy,” and on the 3rd presented five citizen-experienced policies across five sectors (residence, economy, culture, welfare, autonomy).

▶ “What We Have Done with Citizens, What We Will Do with Citizens”

First, Mayor Heo mentioned achievements made together with citizens during his tenure, including the early overcoming of COVID-19 through voluntary citizen participation, the “Gwonbun Movement,” and notable citizen involvement in the acquisition of Sky Cube and the selection of the new city hall site, emphasizing the importance of citizen participation in administration and direct democracy.

Regarding pending issues such as the selection of the Clean-up Environment Center site, the undergrounding of the urban section of the Gyeongjeon Line electrification project, and the relocation of public institutions to local areas, he expressed a strong willingness to actively communicate with citizens and appealed for continuous interest and participation.

In particular, concerning the comprehensive integrity rating of grade 5, he set institutional and cultural reform inside and outside the public office as the top priority goal and showed a firm determination to improve it to grade 1 within the next three years.

▶ Focusing on This Year’s Trend Keywords Reflecting Suncheon’s Ecological Footprint

Mayor Heo said that due to the COVID shock, global trends and values are focusing on ecological transition, mentioning carbon neutrality, ESG management (environmental protection, social responsibility, governance improvement), and nature-friendly Rustic Life as this year’s trend keywords.

“These keywords reflect the rapidly increasing interest in climate crisis response and eco-friendly industries after COVID-19, closely aligned with Suncheon’s ecological conservation footprint,” he said, adding that he plans to implement policies incorporating ecological trends suitable for Suncheon.

▶ Full Effort to Prepare for the 2023 Suncheonman International Garden Expo, with 290,000 Citizens Participating

The 2013 Garden Expo created the nation’s first national garden by establishing an ecological belt between the city center and Suncheonman for permanent preservation. The 2023 Garden Expo, under the slogan “Living in the Garden,” plans to have 290,000 citizens participate as a community centered on Dongcheon Stream and Bonghwasan Mountain to create everyday gardens in the city and lead the Green New Deal (K-Garden) linked to the garden industry.

The 2023 Garden Expo will disperse tourists throughout the city to increase economic ripple effects, create over 25,000 garden-related jobs together with the soon-to-open Suncheonman Garden Market, and demonstrate the infinite value of ecology.

After successfully concluding this expo, Suncheon City plans to enact the Urban Garden Development Act based on the Garden Expo Special Act and aims to host another international garden expo centered around Bonghwasan Mountain by 2033.

▶ Citizen-Experienced Policies Presented in Five Sectors: Residence, Economy, Culture, Welfare, Autonomy

Based on changed trends, Suncheon declared the future vision of a “300,000 Garden City” last year.

This year is the foundation-building year, with plans to promote goals and policies in the five sectors of residence, economy, culture, welfare, and autonomy.

Improving Comfortable Residential Conditions Resembling Nature

With COVID-19 still threatening due to variant viruses and breakthrough infections, the city will establish a permanent response personnel system and set up home treatment centers to build a perfect response system that ensures safety and health against COVID-19 and new infectious diseases.

The “Suncheon-type 2050 Carbon Neutral Policy,” established to prepare for the global climate crisis, will also be fully implemented.

The city plans to significantly expand eco-friendly transportation such as electric vehicles and E-mobility, create carbon absorption zones like urban forests, and spread a low-carbon green lifestyle culture in daily life to gradually reduce the carbon footprint of Suncheon citizens.

Living SOC accessible within a 15-minute walk will also be expanded intensively.

The current 97 libraries will increase to 110 by 2024, and over 100 shared spaces will be created to expand opportunities for dialogue and communication among citizens.

Fostering a Green Economy with a Virtuous Cycle

To fully recover the local economy, the city is preparing for a V-shaped rebound of the real economy this year by supporting small business owners and fostering green and content industries.

The issuance of Suncheon Love Gift Certificates, worth 130 billion KRW, will be increased by over 20 billion KRW to invigorate the neighborhood economy, the certified area for eco-friendly agricultural products will be expanded by 30,000 pyeong, and rural revitalization will be supported by inducing the settlement of over 100 farming households annually.

The overall local economic structure will also be reorganized eco-friendly.

The city will encourage ethical ESG management among local companies and attract “good” industries that consider the planet, such as the future vegan dietary trend, alternative meat industry, and biodegradable plastics industry, thereby solidifying its identity as an ecological city.

Cultivating High-Quality Culture Embedded in Daily Life

In the cultural sector, focusing on arts, sports, and education, Suncheon plans to create open garden museums with attractions in every alley and build high-level cultural infrastructure by attracting the Arts Center, the Honam branch of the National Folk Museum, and the National Digital Ecological Experience Center to satisfy citizens’ cultural demands.

This year, while expanding community sports facilities everywhere, the city will consecutively host large-scale sports tourism events such as the Asia Mountain Bike Competition, Korea Open Badminton Tournament, and the 61st Jeonnam Provincial Sports Festival, adding strength to the local economy and health and vitality to citizens’ lives.

Through the specialized “educational autonomy” of Suncheonman, the village education community plans to broaden learning about the local community, which could not be fulfilled by entrance exams and public education, thereby fostering pride in “my hometown.”

Creating a Welfare Community Without Discrimination or Bias

At a time when local government welfare policies have become important due to employment decline and polarization of living standards caused by economic slowdown after COVID-19, the city plans not only to expand physical welfare facilities but also to restore a community-based “mutual aid welfare culture.”

By expanding public daycare centers and nighttime emergency care services, the city will establish the “Suncheon-type All-day Care Model” to create a happy child-rearing city where working moms can work with peace of mind. For seniors, it will operate a public dementia-specialized day and night care center, provide dignity-maintaining health vouchers, and support seniors’ economic activities through job expansion and strengthening “silver employment” education.

In particular, the city will focus on activating the “Care Bank,” where care volunteer points can be accumulated and redeemed in old age, spreading a mutual aid culture where citizens care for each other, and prepare to establish a tentatively named Urban Community Bank to help citizens start anew.

Mature Autonomy Where Direct Democracy Is Realized

Direct democracy has been continuously emphasized since the beginning of the 7th elected term.

This year, with the full enforcement of the Local Autonomy Act revised for the first time in 30 years and the inauguration of new central and local governments, citizen sovereignty is expected to be further strengthened.

While fostering “24-color Village Autonomy,” where residents freely discuss and persuade each other to solve village problems, the city will implement “citizen autonomy,” where major pending projects are discussed together by the city and citizens through digital literacy education and expansion of the online participation platform (Suncheon e-Democracy Garden), and carry out “administrative autonomy” that creates a creative and horizontal culture.

▶ A Strong Leap Turning Possibilities Discovered in Crisis into Opportunities

Mayor Heo Seok of Suncheon said, “Despite the adverse conditions of the infectious disease that were the same for everyone, Suncheon achieved remarkable results through citizen participation, and in tourism, it shone with possibilities as a wellness non-face-to-face safe tourist destination and ranked first in summer tourist satisfaction,” adding, “Although COVID-19 is not over yet, let us vigorously leap forward this year by turning Suncheon’s possibilities into opportunities through the power of a united and cooperative citizen community.”

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