'2024 Paju City Top 10 News' Selected by Paju Citizens... PajuPay Ranks 1st

2180 Citizens Surveyed... Interest in Expanding Rail Transport Infrastructure Including GTX-A Opening
Paju Pay, Dalbit Children's Hospital Expansion, and Closure of Red-Light District Among Top 10 News for 2 Consecutive Years

The number one achievement in Paju City's administration in 2024 was selected as the 'Paju Pay,' recognized nationwide for its top-level benefits and issuance scale in terms of issuance amount and user benefits.

Top 10 News of Paju City in 2024 Selected by Paju Citizens. Provided by Paju City

Paju City, Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Kim Kyung-il) announced on the 23rd that it selected the 'Top 10 News of Paju City' based on a survey conducted over 13 days from November 12 to 24. The city presented 20 candidate administrative achievements of Paju City this year and allowed up to three overlapping answers, ultimately selecting 10 policies in order of the highest total number of responses. A total of 2,180 citizens participated in the survey.

Among the policies that made it to this year's Top 10 News, three?including the expansion of Paju Pay issuance, the expansion of the Moonlight Children's Hospital, and the push to close the red-light district?were also on the Top 10 News list in 2023. This is notable as it reflects the high support and response from citizens during the early stages of policy development, which served as a driving force for policy implementation, securing institutional sustainability and enhancing policy completeness through additional supplementation and improvement.

Along with the designation as a city with a population of 500,000, citizens' expectations and interest in the expansion of railway transportation infrastructure, such as the opening of GTX-A and the confirmed extension of the Seohae Line to Paju, were also high. 'Paju City, steadily laying the foundation for sustainable development and rapidly advancing toward becoming a self-sufficient city of one million.' This is how 'Paju City in 2024' is being recorded.

◇ 1st Place: Expansion of Paju Pay Issuance and Maintaining 10% Incentive for Three Consecutive Years

Paju Pay is considered the most effective measure among the livelihood stabilization policies promoted by Paju City. Among the 2,180 respondents, 1,186 chose Paju Pay as the best administrative achievement. While many local governments have reduced or abolished local currency benefits due to massive cuts in national subsidies, Paju City has maintained a 10% incentive for three consecutive years and expanded the recharge limit to the government's highest guideline limit: 700,000 KRW on regular months and 1,000,000 KRW during months including Lunar New Year, Chuseok, and Family Month. This is a sophisticated strategy aimed at reducing household living expenses and revitalizing neighborhood businesses to boost sales of small business owners, creating a virtuous economic cycle in Gyeonggi Province.

◇ 2nd Place: Expansion of Public Transportation Infrastructure (Opening of GTX-A, Final Approval of Seohae Line Extension to Paju)

The so-called 'transportation revolution' has begun in Paju, which was almost a barren land for railway transportation. In January this year, news came of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's final approval of the Seohae Line extension project to Paju, and by the end of the year, GTX-A opened, enabling travel from Paju to Seoul in just 22 minutes. Paju City expects the arrival of the GTX era to be a groundbreaking turning point for regional development, anticipating remarkable changes in the local economy, culture, and housing. The city is fully committed to completely reorganizing bus routes to ensure easy and fast connections anywhere in Paju and is urgently seeking ways to maximize urban capacity by accelerating development around station areas. This policy was chosen by 1,182 Paju citizens, ranking second.

◇ 3rd Place: Korea's First Student-Only Commuter Circular Bus 'Paprika'

A representative policy hit product of Paju City following the Thousand-Won Taxi and Smart Bus has been born. 'Paprika,' meaning 'a free, safe, and convenient school bus anywhere,' received thumbs-up from 951 Paju citizens. Notably, Paprika is the first case where a local government took the lead to find a solution beyond the current system limitation that only school principals can operate school buses. It won the grand prize at the Gyeonggi Province City and County Regulatory Innovation Competition and also received an encouragement award at the 2024 Local Regulatory Innovation Best Practice Competition hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. Paprika started this spring with routes connecting 18 schools in Unjeong New Town and is currently conducting a pilot operation throughout December in preparation for opening routes in northern areas such as Munsan and Geumchon next spring.

◇ 4th Place: Expansion of Moonlight Children's Hospital and Public Late-Night Pharmacies Protecting Citizens' Health

Paju City designates and operates Moonlight Children's Hospitals where mild pediatric and adolescent patients can receive outpatient treatment late into the night on weekends and holidays without distinction. Since the first designation of a Moonlight Children's Hospital in Unjeong New Town last year, one more was designated in the Geumchon area this year, and a public late-night children's hospital was designated in the Munsan area, operating one public late-night children's hospital in each of the three regions within Paju City. Patients can receive specialized pediatric treatment at fees more than one-third cheaper than emergency rooms, and it is even more convenient as prescriptions can be filled late at night in connection with nearby public late-night pharmacies. This policy received support from 534 Paju citizens.

◇ 5th Place: Improvement of Traffic Congestion Including Chronic Congestion at Geumchon IC on Seoul-Munsan Expressway

Ranked fifth is the news that traffic congestion caused by chronic jams at the entrance to Geumchon Interchange (IC) has been greatly alleviated, reducing citizen inconvenience. 522 citizens cast their votes, praising that commuting to and from Seoul has become much faster thanks to this. Geumchon IC had been a chronic congestion spot during rush hours due to increased traffic near the entrance and exit since the opening of the Seoul-Munsan Expressway in November 2020. Paju City started construction in February this year with a budget of 2.5 billion KRW to expand one lane of the interchange entrance road and completed the work three months ahead of schedule in September.

◇ 6th Place: Push to Close Red-Light District and Support for Rehabilitation of Victims of Prostitution

The policy to close the red-light district, a core policy of Paju City's 8th administration, was selected for the second consecutive year in the Top 10 News with 435 citizen votes. The city's steady efforts aimed at helping victims of prostitution fully reintegrate into society have resulted in 12 women currently receiving rehabilitation support from the city. Administrative enforcement against illegal buildings in the district has accelerated, with demolition or partial correction completed for 12 out of 81 violating buildings, and the number of building owners voluntarily demolishing their properties has increased to 10. Public opinion against prostitution and for district closure is also spreading daily. Over the past two years, about 3,000 citizens participated in walking campaigns and about 2,000 in owl activities to block sex buyers.

◇ 7th Place: Significant Reduction in Permit Processing Time through Civil Administrative Service 2·5·7 Initiative

This is a groundbreaking solution to eliminate administrative inefficiencies that waste citizens' precious time and cause opportunity cost losses. Since the full implementation of the 'Civil Administrative Service 2·5·7' in July last year, building owners or agencies applying for permits can receive processing results within seven days. One year after the introduction, the average processing time for complex permits was reduced from 41 days to 19 days, more than halving the duration, showing clear results. This policy received 357 citizen votes, ranking seventh.

◇ 8th Place: Creation of Unjeong Central Park and Significant Expansion of Barefoot Walking Trails

This year was a shining year for Paju City's efforts to provide citizens with comfortable urban retreats. Unjeong Central Park, which debuted as the venue for the LH Public Garden Expo this fall, features 22 citizen and artist gardens along the Cheongryongducheon waterfront park in Unjeong 3 District, along with a music fountain and a water plaza, expected to become a representative attraction of Paju City. The city also established nine new barefoot walking trails this year, starting with the Munbal Shinbaram barefoot trail, including Chorong Flower Park, Saeam Park, and Wollong Mountain Forest Park, and plans to create an additional 18 barefoot walking trails next year. This expansion of accessible resting spaces around residential areas received support from 337 citizens.

◇ 9th Place: Official Designation as a City with a Population of 500,000 Demonstrates Sustainable Urban Status

Three hundred thirty-three citizens selected the official designation as a city with a population exceeding 500,000, announced last January, as the best news of Paju City this year. Since its promotion to city status in 1996, Paju has experienced continuous population growth and development for 28 years, becoming the 19th metropolitan city nationwide and the 13th in Gyeonggi Province. With the authority to directly manage 91 out of about 120 administrative tasks previously handled by Gyeonggi Province, Paju City has gained broad authority not only to improve administrative services for citizens through prompt civil complaint resolution but also to invest in facilities for metropolitan infrastructure development.

◇ 10th Place: Expansion of Urban Parking Lots to Improve Parking Conditions

Three hundred twenty-eight citizens applauded the improvement of urban parking conditions. This year, Paju City introduced drastic measures to resolve the shortage of parking spaces in urban areas. In new towns where parking supply is critically insufficient, large-scale public parking lots such as Unjeong Lake Park Public Parking Lot and Geumchon Wonang-gil Public Parking Lot have been newly established. In areas like Chorongcho and Publishing City, small-scale parking lots utilizing leftover land are being increased to expand parking supply. For long-term unauthorized parking of large vehicles such as camping cars and caravans in roadside public parking lots, which had been a frequent citizen complaint, the city is responding by implementing and adjusting parking fees. In old downtown areas lacking parking facilities, a resident-priority parking system has been introduced focusing on enhancing resident convenience.

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