Over 100 Days Since Inauguration, Sang-ik Hampyeong County Governor... "We Will Achieve New Changes and Leap Forward"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Kim Chunsu] “Through innovative communication administration, we will surely achieve a well-off Hampyeong for the residents and tangible changes that the residents can feel.”

Lee Sang-ik, the 8th elected mayor of Hampyeong County, Jeollanam-do, who launched under the slogan ‘New Leap, Hopeful Hampyeong,’ has marked 100 days since his inauguration.

In a recent interview, Mayor Lee expressed his aspirations for leading Hampyeong County over the next four years.

Mayor Lee Sang-ik said, “We have established detailed plans for the pledges promised to the residents and set the direction for the county administration for the next four years based on the foundation laid in the latter half of the 7th elected term, completing preparations for a hopeful Hampyeong.”

He added, “We have finalized 59 pledge projects across six major sectors promised to the residents in the 8th elected term and are working hard with public officials to faithfully implement them.”

As a result, during the first 100 days of the 8th elected term, visible achievements have emerged throughout the county based on the administration of the 7th term. Major accomplishments include securing 93.2 billion KRW in national and local government funds for natural disaster mitigation projects, obtaining 33.3 billion KRW for the ‘Rural Agreement’ public contest project led by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, issuing the 3rd round of disaster relief funds to residents, establishing the Hampyeong Vision 2030 mid- to long-term comprehensive development plan, and surpassing 20,000 cumulative vehicles at the Hampyeong Drive-in Theater.

◇ Full Effort to Secure Government Budget for Next Year’s Local Issues

First, Mayor Lee views securing national funds as the fundamental basis for county development and is personally leading efforts to secure budgets across all public contest projects.

On August 4th, he directly visited the Ministry of Economy and Finance and met with Kim Wan-seop, Director of the Budget Office, and Lim Gi-geun, Chief Budget Review Officer, urging full government support for key projects targeted for next year’s national budget.

At this meeting, Mayor Lee requested national funding support amounting to 29.7 billion KRW out of a total of 130.3 billion KRW for six projects, including ▲ Comprehensive maintenance project for flood damage prevention in Naegyo-gi floodplain area (43.6 billion KRW), ▲ Hampyeong-eup sewage priority management maintenance project (31.4 billion KRW), ▲ Hampyeong public sewage treatment area sewer pipeline maintenance project (28 billion KRW), ▲ Sonbul and Nasan sewer pipeline maintenance project (11.7 billion KRW), and ▲ Consolidation and maintenance of small-scale public sewage treatment facilities.

These projects are national fund-supported initiatives aimed at improving residents’ convenience. Mayor Lee actively emphasized the need for phased national funding support. The 93.2 billion KRW in national and local government funds for natural disaster mitigation projects from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety can be seen as the fruit of such diligent administrative efforts.

◇ Focus on Development Around Bitgreen National Industrial Complex

Among the key local issues for Hampyeong’s development, the core is the development of the Bitgreen National Industrial Complex in Wolya-myeon. As Bitgreen Industrial Complex is emerging as a new hub for the automobile industry, Mayor Lee announced plans to actively promote development around Wolya-myeon during the 8th elected term.

Mayor Lee explained, “Along with the smooth operation of the Gwangju Global Motors factory, we confirmed the relocation of Kumho Tire’s Gwangju plant during the 7th elected term. We plan to actively attract automobile-related companies to Bitgreen Industrial Complex and develop residential complexes in the adjacent Nasan, Wolya, and Haebo areas to encourage population inflow.”

In particular, Mayor Lee is putting all efforts into completing the ‘4·4·8 Hampyeong Experience Project,’ a stay-type tourism project where tourists spend 4 hours in the Hampyeong forest, 4 hours by the sea, and 8 hours at accommodations for healing.

He said, “We will strengthen infrastructure such as the Hampyeong Cheonji-gil trail opened last year, forest zones in the eastern region, and marine zones in the western region, as well as focus on creating stay-type tourist and recreational complexes by preparing lodging facilities and food villages.”

Additionally, under the banner of ‘resident-centered’ governance, Mayor Lee is conducting ‘Village Chief Communication Meetings’ to design future development plans and ‘Town and Township Youth and Middle-aged Workshops’ for Hampyeong-style job creation, placing residents at the center of all policies and leading new changes in Hampyeong with a strong determination.

◇ Expansion of Scholarships for Talent Development for Hampyeong’s Long-term Future

Considering talent development as the most important for Hampyeong’s future, Mayor Lee donated his entire salary during the 7th elected term to the Hampyeong Talent Development Fund and continues efforts to expand scholarships.

Starting from the second half of this year, scholarships of up to 3 million KRW within tuition fees are provided equally regardless of whether students are from the metropolitan area or non-metropolitan areas, allowing more students to focus on their studies without worrying about tuition compared to last year.

◇ Focus on Communication Among Public Officials... Creating a Workplace Culture Where People Want to Work

Mayor Lee is also striving to create a new public service culture by holding the inauguration ceremony of the ‘Hampyeong County Junior Board’ for MZ generation employees below grade 7 to foster a horizontal organizational culture and discover innovative ideas, and by organizing ‘Public Officials Healing Workshops’ that provide communication opportunities among employees regardless of rank or generation.

Mayor Lee Sang-ik said, “We will strive to create a Hampyeong where residents live well and their lives change, centered on innovation and communication administration.”

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