Kim Byeongnae, Mayor of Gwangju Nam-gu, Receives 'Korea Anti-Corruption Integrity Award'

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] Kim Byeong-nae, Mayor of Nam-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City, was named a recipient of the ‘2022 Korea Anti-Corruption Integrity Award’ organized by the Korean Anti-Corruption Policy Association for his contributions to establishing a clean public service culture.

According to Nam-gu on the 19th, the Korean Anti-Corruption Policy Association conducted evaluations divided into public service and political sectors to select public officials and politicians who contributed to national development and political progress by practicing integrity and establishing fair administration, politics, and socio-cultural values.

The evaluation was conducted through a three-stage process: a first preliminary review based on recommendations from various sectors, a second main review, and a third final decision by the judging committee, using five assessment criteria: law-abidingness, social contribution, anti-corruption achievements, local residents’ awareness, and financial efficiency.

Mayor Kim was selected as the final winner in the public service sector.

The Korean Anti-Corruption Policy Association highly evaluated Mayor Kim Byeong-nae’s efforts during the 7th and 8th local government terms to improve a clean public service culture, enhance administrative transparency through the establishment of anti-corruption public-private governance, and realize autonomous administration including rights enhancement through proactive administration and resident participation in decision-making.

This year, Mayor Kim, along with 60 senior officials at grade 5 and above, pledged to practice integrity with zero tolerance for corruption, led internal and external integrity self-assessments and integrity happy calls to improve integrity levels, and operated “Respect for Emotions Days” twice a month to create a happy workplace.

Additionally, through the establishment of public-private governance, he operated a citizen auditor system for residents to monitor administration and an ombudsman system as advocates for residents’ rights, and played a significant role in enhancing residents’ rights and administrative trust by promptly and fairly handling 171 grievance cases through active grievance management.

Along with this, he implemented autonomous administration by operating resident decision-making systems, grievance site verification days, and a neighborhood inconvenience reporting system, and led an anti-corruption integrity society on the front lines of administration, being selected as an excellent institution for two consecutive years in the anti-corruption policy evaluation hosted by Gwangju City.

Mayor Kim stated, “Clear water upstream makes clear water downstream, and one must be upright oneself to lead a clean public service society well,” adding, “I will do my best to firmly root the culture of integrity.”

Meanwhile, founded in 2005, the Korean Anti-Corruption Policy Association is operated mainly by experts such as university professors, researchers, lawyers, and certified public accountants, and is the largest academic research institution in Korea actively promoting anti-corruption research and integrity society activities.

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