Gwangju Mayor Kang Ki-jung Presides Over First Public Institution Heads Meeting... Discusses City Administration Directions

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Kang Gijeong, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, presided over the first ‘Public Institution Heads Meeting’ of the 8th elected term, attended by heads of 26 public institutions under the city, discussing the operation and innovation directions of public institutions according to the policy direction of the 8th elected term.

Gwangju City has established the ‘Gwangju Strategic Promotion Team (Public Institution Innovation Team)’ through its first organizational restructuring to lead innovation in public institutions during the 8th elected term, seeking ways for public institutions to become responsible organizations that meet citizens’ expectations.

Mayor Kang stated, “Despite continuous criticism of the lax management of public institutions and ongoing demands from citizens for improvements in publicness, efficiency, and transparency, the efforts of public institutions have often fallen short of what citizens can feel,” emphasizing, “To meet the increased demands and expectations of citizens, we must revisit the founding purpose of public institutions and find a ‘path of change.’”

He added, “We need a new relationship that moves away from the passive one where institutions simply accept tasks and projects proposed by the city, toward a cooperative partnership in city administration,” presenting five major principles for creativity and change between the city and public institutions.

First, by establishing a comprehensive management system for public institutions, overlapping and similar functions among institutions will be readjusted, and collaborative projects will be strengthened.

As the continuous establishment of public institutions has increased overlapping and duplicated functions, causing inefficiencies in city finances and projects, the city plans to review and adjust similar and overlapping functions among institutions and discover collaborative projects.

Second, the conventional entrusted project system will be improved.

Some entrusted projects, which have traditionally been assigned to specific institutions, will be converted to a competitive system to allow capable institutions to participate, and various matching projects will be carefully evaluated to ensure they serve citizen benefits.

Third, a common operational guideline for institutions will be prepared to enhance management efficiency.

Standard guidelines for common operations such as personnel, compensation, accounting, and contracts will be established, with strengthened verification and consulting on their implementation.

Additionally, many of Gwangju’s invested and funded institutions have fewer staff compared to other regions, so unified management guidelines will be provided to secure a more efficient management foundation.

Fourth, to prevent loss of trust due to employee misconduct and internal conflicts, the public institution personnel verification system will be strengthened and ethical regulations revised.

The scope of personnel verification for executives, including representatives, will be expanded, mandatory self-introduction statements will be required, and measures against false statements will be reinforced to establish a systematic personnel verification system.

Fifth, a definite incentive system will be institutionalized for institutions that perform well.

The reward system for institutional performance plans will be expanded, and the evaluation criteria and system will be improved to introduce clear incentives such as staffing, bonuses, and project funds for excellent institutions.

Mayor Kang said, “We will prepare detailed action plans promptly through cooperation with public institutions,” and added, “I ask once again for your cooperation so that public institutions can be reborn as organizations trusted by citizens.”

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