Ulsan Ranked First Again... Government and Local Governments Joint Evaluation Awarded 'Best'

Ulsan City Ranks '1st' for Two Consecutive Years Among Special and Metropolitan Cities

29 Central Government Agencies Participate, Evaluating 100 Indicators

Ulsan City was ‘number one.’ Outperforming all competitors, it clinched the top prize in this year’s government joint evaluation of metropolitan local governments.

On the 1st, Ulsan City announced that it ranked first among special and metropolitan cities in the ‘2023 Government Joint Evaluation.’

According to the results of the local government joint evaluation announced by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Ulsan City achieved a quantitative evaluation score of 92.3% in goal attainment, ranking first among special and metropolitan cities, and six excellent cases were selected in the qualitative evaluation.

Ulsan City also received the ‘top’ evaluation last year. This recognition reflects the city’s administrative strength and capabilities as the best in the nation.

The government joint evaluation is the only comprehensive local government evaluation system at the national level, conducted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety in cooperation with 29 central government ministries. It assesses the performance of 17 cities and provinces in national delegated tasks, national subsidy projects, and major national policy implementations to ensure integration and efficiency of government affairs under the ‘Government Work Evaluation Framework Act.’

This year, the evaluation covered six major national goals linked to key government agendas and 100 evaluation indicators (78 quantitative and 22 qualitative), assessing the performance of local governments in cities and provinces during 2022.

The quantitative evaluation assigns target values by city and province and assesses whether they were achieved, while the qualitative evaluation selects two excellent cases per indicator.

From January to April, the evaluation was conducted through mutual verification between cities and provinces, collective verification by 29 central ministries, and 89 joint evaluation team members, following fair and objective procedures. The final decision was made after review by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety Joint Evaluation Committee and the Government Work Evaluation Committee of the Office for Government Policy Coordination.

Ulsan City achieved its targets in 72 out of 78 quantitative indicators (92.3%), securing first place among special and metropolitan cities. This achievement rate is 4.4 percentage points higher than the average for special and metropolitan cities (87.9%).

In the qualitative evaluation, six excellent cases were selected, including △ digital transformation response (A smart city created by digital technology, renewing Ulsan, benefiting citizens), △ opening of public works (Ulsan’s public works that increase in value the more they are shared), △ improvement of public language administrative services (Ulsan, standing tall as Korea’s representative Hangul city!), and △ utilization of recycled waste synthetic resin products (Turning a nuisance into Ulsan’s treasure! A splendid transformation).

Quantitative indicators assign differentiated target values by special and metropolitan cities considering regional environmental conditions, with targets adjusted upward annually based on previous year’s performance. As Ulsan City is already at the highest level, its targets are higher than those of other special and metropolitan cities, requiring several times more effort to achieve them.

Therefore, achieving excellent results consecutively is a challenging feat. It is highly significant that Ulsan achieved the top quantitative evaluation score despite less favorable conditions compared to other special and metropolitan cities.

Ulsan City’s continuous efforts to improve government joint evaluation performance through progress report meetings, focused management of indicator performance, capacity-building training, and expert consulting laid the foundation for this ‘top evaluation.’

Seo Jeong-wook, Deputy Mayor for Administration, proudly stated, “Achieving the top score in the government joint evaluation despite difficult conditions was possible because the city and its five districts and counties communicated and collaborated closely, doing their best in every administrative field.”

Ulsan City expects to secure more financial benefits from this evaluation result than the special grant of 1.188 billion won received as a reward last year.

Ulsan City Hall exterior view. (Photo by Ulsan City Hall)

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