1st Anniversary of the 12th Gyeongnam Provincial Council Opening: "We Strived for a Council True to Its Role"

"I take pride in having gathered wisdom and worked hard to create a council worthy of the residents, one that earns their trust and love."

Kim Jin-bu, Chairman of the Gyeongnam Provincial Council, made this remark reflecting on the council's activities over the past year, marking the first anniversary of the 12th council's opening.

In a briefing on the 4th, Chairman Kim said, "All 64 council members, including the chairman, vice-chairman, and standing committee chairs, have strengthened field-centered legislative activities by directly visiting the sites of residents' daily lives with the conviction to find answers over the past year."

He added, "We have worked hard to ponder major issues in Gyeongnam and find solutions while traversing the field of residents' livelihoods."

He stated that efforts were made toward livelihood-centered legislative activities for a council worthy of the people, enhancing the status of local councils, strengthening legislative capabilities, and activating communication with residents.

He cited major achievements such as ▲frequent holding of forums and roundtable meetings to gather residents' opinions ▲introduction of a policy support officer system to improve council members' expertise ▲establishment of a legislative evaluation officer position to analyze the impact of ordinances ▲creation of local civil complaint offices ▲introduction of a policy inquiry manual to enhance the verification of personnel appointments for heads of provincial investment and contribution institutions.

Over the past year, the council also approved 163 ordinances, proposed 33 recommendations, pointed out and improved 813 issues during the 2022 executive administrative audit, and conducted 38 provincial government questions, 105 five-minute free speeches, and 552 written questions.

Chairman Kim Jin-bu of the Gyeongnam Provincial Council is announcing the achievements so far on the occasion of the 1st anniversary of the opening of the 12th council.
[Photo by Lee Se-ryeong]

Chairman Kim mentioned 97 site visits and the formation of the Special Committee on Job Measures and the Special Committee on Ordinance Revision.

"We formed a record 14 research groups, conducted 50 research activities, and carried out 21 research projects," he said, adding, "We improved the system related to official overseas business trips and held debriefing sessions on trip results."

He also mentioned the first-ever live YouTube broadcasts of standing committee meetings at the provincial council level, changing the council newsletter to a tabloid format and expanding its distribution, and conducting a residents' perception survey.

Future tasks include ▲preparing ordinances related to personnel hearings ▲conducting administrative audits focused on resolving current issues ▲installing a residents' empathy hall in the expanded council building.

Chairman Kim said, "We will transfer the organizational authority and budget formulation rights of local councils to the councils themselves so that local councils can properly perform their roles of checks and balances."

He continued, "We will support the introduction of a one-person-one-assistant system and the enactment of the Local Council Act so that the council can properly fulfill its role and independently solve regional problems," adding, "From now on, we will move forward focusing solely on the residents."

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