‘Clearly from the Start’ Park Wansu Elected, Opens Online Communication Channel to Reflect Opinions of 3.4 Million Residents

Governor-elect Park Wansu of Gyeongnam Province Suggests Residents' Opinions. [Provided by Transition Team]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Ju Cheol-in] Park Wan-su, the governor-elect of Gyeongnam Province, announced on the 12th that his "Start with a Clear Transition Team" will open an online communication channel to receive policy proposals from residents.

The purpose is to reflect the voices and policy proposals of residents from all walks of life into administrative tasks after practical review during the preparation process for the launch of the 8th local government.

Through the official Gyeongnam Province website's main page section "Wishes to the Governor-elect of Gyeongnam Province," any resident can freely propose policies. Along with selecting the administrative slogan, ideas on how to utilize the official residence, which was promised to be "returned to the residents," can also be proposed.

The administrative slogan serves as the highest-level policy goal, functioning as the core value and guiding principle when discovering and promoting policies. The slogan is used in policy materials, promotional items, and signboards of the province and its affiliated institutions.

The transition team plans to select the optimal phrase as the slogan that prioritizes economic recovery while creating an administration centered on the 3.4 million residents. Currently, about 40 proposals have been received.

Procedures to return the governor's official residence to the residents have also been initiated. During the election process, Governor-elect Park expressed that supporting the official residence with taxes is a relic of the appointed governor era and a symbol of authoritarianism, promising "not to move into the official residence and to return it to the residents."

In addition, opinions are being collected on the "House of Residents," which has been open since 2009 but has been criticized for low utilization due to few visitors. About 20 opinions have been submitted regarding the utilization plan for the governor's official residence and the House of Residents located on the tree-lined street in Yongho-dong, Changwon, an area with high foot traffic.

Leading with communication and innovation, Governor-elect Park seems to have considered the 11-month administrative gap and activated an efficient, practical transition team rather than a heavy transition committee to quickly take over the administration and start work immediately.

At the transition team office set up at the Gyeongnam Research Institute, Park, who received administrative work briefings from the 7th to the 9th, emphasized efficiency in organizational management such as restructuring.

The governor-elect expressed his intention to review whether there is any functional overlap among the province's invested and funded institutions and administrative organizations and to proceed with restructuring if necessary.

In particular, organizational restructuring to transform into a working organization, which the governor-elect has always emphasized, seems inevitable. He even described the presence of a level 2 headquarters chief above a level 3 director as a "roof on the roof" (redundant hierarchy).

He will boldly reform unnecessary upper positions and effectively introduce a multiple-grade system for the first time, where level 2 officials can also perform department-level tasks and positions are assigned based on work capability. Although there have been some cases of level 3 and 4 officials such as former auditors due to staffing issues, this is the first official push.

Governor-elect Park said that instead of the provincial office leading, it will focus on drawing the big picture by presenting and guiding policy directions for city and county projects. He also emphasized that private investment projects such as Masan Robot Land and Jinhae Ungdong Development Project should not repeat delays or only enrich private companies.

He promised to eliminate unnecessary protocol starting with himself. He plans to regularize communication with lower-level employees and operate an organizational culture innovation task force to drastically change the atmosphere of the provincial office.

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