Changwon Special City Elevates Urban Status by Securing Medical School Attraction and Special Authority

Campaign Urging the Establishment of a Medical School in Solidarity with Citizens
Continuous Request for Changing the Criteria for Special City Designation

Changwon Special City in Gyeongnam plans to elevate the city's level by securing a medical school, acquiring special authority befitting a special city, and nurturing future core talents?longstanding goals of its 1.04 million citizens over 30 years?while accelerating innovative growth toward the next 50 years.

Although Changwon is a metropolitan city with a population of one million, it lacks medical professional education institutions such as medical, dental, Korean medicine, and pharmacy schools. With the government's announcement on expanding medical school quotas imminent, the city considers this the optimal time to establish a medical school and the last chance to fulfill a 30-year aspiration, planning to take proactive steps.

On November 1st last year, a National Assembly debate on the necessity of establishing a medical school in Changwon Special City was held.

First, the city will deliver the petition signatures collected from 1 million Gyeongnam residents, along with the petition itself, to the government and other relevant bodies. Alongside this, campaigns for establishing a medical school, visits to central government ministries and the National Assembly, press conferences urging the establishment of the medical school, and one-person relay support activities will be conducted.

Moreover, the city will unite with various sectors of society?including politicians, parents, and religious groups?to make every effort until the very end to establish the medical school.

Recent polls show that over 84% of residents support the establishment of a medical school in Changwon. The city has a strong foundation for establishing a medical school, with abundant medical demand typical of a metropolitan city of one million and the presence of medical institutions comparable to university hospitals, raising high expectations within the local community.

To serve as a catalyst in securing special city authority, Changwon will collaborate with three other special cities (Suwon, Yongin, and Goyang in Gyeonggi Province) to ensure the enactment of the ‘Special Act on Support for Special Cities’ during the 22nd National Assembly. Efforts will also be made to include this special act in the 22nd general election pledges, accelerating the legislative process.

With the population declining, maintaining the status of a special city has become a challenge. The city has gathered expert opinions and prepared a proposal to revise the criteria for special cities by early this year. It strongly advocates to central government agencies the irrationality of the current designation based solely on population and demands a change in the criteria.

Additionally, as new administrative authorities have been granted, securing financial authority is essential. The city plans to continuously request the Local Era Committee to provide financial support necessary for carrying out special administrative tasks.

Designating 2024 as a year to accelerate the transition to innovative growth, the city will also embark on educational innovation to enhance the capabilities of public officials supporting this goal.

Until now, education has been limited to fragmented special lectures, lacking training programs tailored to individual and organizational needs. Starting this year, the city plans to focus on systematic capacity building through customized employee training by rank and job series.

First, basic training for promoted employees by rank and advanced training for practitioners will cultivate competencies aligned with changing roles within the organization. In particular, practical training courses covering contracts, project management (PM), legal interpretation, and audits will be organized and repeatedly taught and learned to strengthen practical skills that can be immediately applied to work.

To this end, the city will utilize senior officials within the organization as instructors to provide education that imparts firsthand practical knowledge and experience. Furthermore, specialized job training such as construction supervision and electrical safety management courses will be enhanced, and core talent development education will be promoted to lay the foundation for leading future city administration.

Hong Nampyo, Mayor of Changwon Special City, stated, “This year will be an important year to elevate the city’s level with medical services and financial authority befitting a special city.” He added, “We will provide high-quality administrative services by concurrently conducting employee capacity-building education to implement city administration that meets citizens’ expectations.”

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