Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju Selected as an Excellent Institution for Supporting Foreign Residents

Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City, has achieved the remarkable feat of being selected as an excellent institution for four consecutive years in the ‘2023 Local Government Foreign Resident Support Best Practice Competition’ hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

As a policy achievement that established a foundation for foreign residents to be recognized as confident citizens of the local community through communication and participation, Gwangsan-gu advanced to the finals again this year and won the Encouragement Award, securing a special grant of 30 million KRW.

On the 21st, at the government Sejong Complex, eight local governments selected as best practices through the first expert evaluation and the second online public vote were invited to the finals from 39 submissions received from 226 cities, counties, and districts across 17 provinces nationwide.

Participating under the theme “We Are All Gwangsan Citizens,” Gwangsan-gu made headlines by establishing the first dedicated foreign resident department in the Honam region, the ‘Foreign Residents Division,’ and creating a virtual neighborhood called the ‘22nd Honorary Neighborhood’ composed of foreign residents in addition to the 21 existing neighborhoods, promoting dialogue with the Foreign Residents Division. These policies aimed to establish foreign residents as genuine citizens and guarantee their rights.

In particular, strengthening communication centered on the Foreign Residents Division to listen to voices from the field and reflect them in policies was evaluated as providing important implications for Korean society, where the number of foreign residents is increasing nationwide.

In this regard, Gwangsan-gu has made efforts to broaden mutual understanding and enhance cultural awareness through various methods such as policy sharing meetings to share the direction of foreign resident policies, resident meetings (town hall meetings) for coexistence between native and immigrant residents, and listening sessions in the district office to hear difficulties.

Additionally, to ensure the stable settlement of foreign residents, regular life safety education such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training is conducted, and multilingual guides on daily life information and booklets on the Food Sanitation Act have been produced and provided, receiving great responses from foreign residents.

Active support for the social participation of foreign residents also stood out.

The Foreign Resident Honorary Community Leaders, who act as a bridge between immigrants and administration and lead support for children who are victims of violence; the Foreign Talent Donation Group, which volunteers as interpreters at medical institutions, police stations, and other places where foreign residents need assistance; and the Foreign Volunteer Group, which is responsible for community safety through autonomous crime prevention and snow removal during heavy snowfall, have become representative cases where foreign residents actively engage as proud members of the local community beyond being mere recipients of support, creating a virtuous cycle.

Moreover, in May, Gwangsan-gu hosted the 1st World Koryoin Conference, gathering Koryoin (ethnic Koreans from the former Soviet Union) from around the world in one place, stepping up as a hub city for 550,000 Koryoin at home and abroad. In July, it was designated as an Education Internationalization Special Zone, laying the foundation to leap forward as a central city for global citizenship education nurturing future talents.

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