[1st Anniversary of Mayor Kang Gijeong of Gwangju in the 8th Civil Election] ① 8760 Hours, Farewell to the Familiar

"Put Citizens Before Officials" Breaking Away from Protocol and Event Customs

On the 3rd floor of Gwangju Metropolitan City Hall, in the mayor's office, there is a specially made "Clock of Gwangju." This clock began ticking at midnight on July 1, 2022, marking the start of Mayor Kang Gi-jung's term in the 8th popularly elected administration. It embodies Mayor Kang's determination to not waste a single moment of the 35,040 hours (4 years) of his term "for Gwangju." One year later, at 2 p.m. on June 18, 2023, the clock had already counted 8,462 hours. Starting from a "farewell to the familiar," it is evaluated to have brought "visible changes" during the 8,760 hours (1 year). The goal is to achieve "tangible changes" over the next 26,280 hours (3 years). We present Mayor Kang's "8,760 hours of new values and challenges" in ten installments.

The clock that started moving from 12:00 AM on July 1, 2022, when Kang Ki-jung, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, began his term.
[Photo by Gwangju Metropolitan City]

① 8,760 hours, a farewell to the familiar

Mayor Kang Gi-jung of Gwangju, in the 8th popularly elected administration, declared a "farewell to the familiar" as his inaugural statement. He then acted to shed "customary protocol." As a result, the lineup at the front entrance disappeared. Briefings with department heads during event movements were also eliminated. This signified a shift from "taking care of the mayor" to "more carefully taking care of the citizens," the true protagonists of the events.

The farewell to the familiar can be seen in various events. A representative example is the "donation ceremony." Previously, donation events were held at City Hall as a matter of custom. One day, Mayor Kang questioned, "Why must donors come all the way to City Hall to deliver donations? The ones who should feel the loss are the citizens of Gwangju." Consequently, the event format changed to visiting the donors instead.

Accordingly, the photo shoot location also changed. Traditionally, the mayor occupied the center position, but was moved to the edge, with the donor taking the center.

Communication was also given a new color. Based on Mayor Kang's "farewell to the familiar" and the "philosophy of the square," new attempts created distinct communication channels such as "Monday Dialogue," "Tuesday Luncheon," "Wednesday Policy Picnic," "Thursday Executive Meeting," and "Friday Strategy Meeting," which are clearly different from before.

First, the candid conversation forum "Monday Dialogue" is scheduled on the 19th with the theme "G-Story Industry and Globalization." Previously, starting with "Communication and Cooperation with Civil Society," Mayor Kang and citizens from various sectors held weekly Monday dialogues on diverse topics such as youth policy, overcoming low birth rates, fostering e-sports, securing future car competitiveness, urban diplomacy, complex shopping malls, city branding, and companion animals.

"Wednesday Policy Picnic" was held 19 times with field workers implementing policies. Starting with the first policy picnic to strengthen support for youth preparing for independence, it included visits to ▲ Gwangju's only elementary girls' soccer team (Hanam Jungang Elementary) ▲ the future of cultural content industry (Gwangju Content Hub) ▲ next-generation battery as an industrial growth engine (Sebang Lithium Battery Co., Ltd. Gwangju Plant) ▲ integrated care reflecting Gwangju's uniqueness (Dong Administrative Welfare Center) ▲ sustainable resource circulation city commemorating Environment Day (Metropolitan Sanitary Landfill) ▲ and fostering young farmers (Agricultural Technology Center), listening to voices from the field to enhance policy execution.

To expand citizen participation, an online interactive communication platform "Gwangju ON" was introduced, newly adding a survey function to the citizen proposal platform "Baro Sotong Gwangju." Since September 8 last year, about 25,000 members of the Citizen Policy Participation Group have been recruited and operated to quickly grasp diverse citizen opinions and use them as basic data for policy decision-making and execution.

Communication with internal public officials is also undergoing "change upon change." It is an effort to strengthen skinship with public officials, breaking down walls to walk together. Mayor Kang said, "Communication with public officials, who are partners in leading city administration, is most important," and has been conducting regular assemblies, executive meetings, Tuesday luncheons, and Friday strategy meetings, breaking away from traditional methods.

In particular, the past lecture-style regular assemblies were replaced with bold changes filled with enjoyment and communication.

Shortly after taking office, Mayor Kang held a "Lunchbox Talk" with MZ generation public officials, then opened a talk show titled "Mayor, Were You Embarrassed?" at the first regular assembly, and shared his administrative philosophy and direction through the mayor's letter and 90-second presentations by project staff, transforming it into a communication forum. Recently, a special guest was invited to the regular assembly: Kim Gi-seung, a shoemaker who has been responsible for repairing public officials' shoes for over 20 years at the government building's shoe repair shop.

The morning commute also changed. Every morning, Mayor Kang walks to the first-floor entrance of City Hall instead of the underground parking lot. This allows him to directly meet citizens holding one-person protests in the City Hall plaza, cleaning workers, and staff.

He also starts his day by sending birthday congratulatory text messages to public officials celebrating their birthdays. It is an effort to communicate.

Mayor Kang Gi-jung of Gwangju emphasized, "Good policies are those that are clothed in the people's sentiment. The beginning of communication is empathy, and the end of communication is completed with policies accompanied by budgets. Through communication, it is most important to grasp the big direction and flow of city administration."

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