Cheongyang County's New Public Official Saves Shiitake Growers with Proactive Administration... Wins Excellence Award at Provincial Competition

Listening Directly to Farmers' Challenges and Seeking Solutions
Supporting Young Forestry Workers and Improving National Funding Projects

Gu Seju, an officer of the Forestry Resources Division of Cheongyang County, received the Excellence Award for Outstanding Cases of Proactive Administration in Chungcheongnam-do.

Cheongyang County in Chungcheongnam-do is drawing attention after winning the Excellence Award at the Chungcheongnam-do Proactive Administration Best Practices Competition, thanks to the field-oriented proactive efforts of a newly appointed public official.

On August 26, Cheongyang County announced that it had received the Excellence Award at the "2025 Chungcheongnam-do Proactive Administration Best Practices Competition," held on August 25, for the case titled "Efforts of a New Public Official to Improve the Farming Conditions of Shiitake Mushroom Growers."

Gu Seju, an officer of the Forestry Resources Division, was highly praised for actively seeking solutions to the challenges faced by local farmers, such as the aging of farm owners, rising production costs, declining sales prices, and frequent heavy rain damage, by directly engaging in the field.

In particular, it was noted as especially meaningful that these achievements were made by a new public official who had only been appointed for about a year.

Through on-site communication, he identified that young forestry workers had excellent technical skills but lacked initial capital, and for the first time, provided support for an automated control system for shiitake mushroom houses.

He also discovered that the timing of the national funding announcement for shiitake log projects did not align with the actual needs of the farmers, leading some to give up on the project. He addressed this challenging issue by requesting the Korea Forest Service to change the announcement schedule.

Kim Dongon, the county governor, stated, "Proactive administration does not have to be grand; it starts with active communication with residents. This award is a valuable achievement resulting from the attitude of a new public official who listened closely to the voices of the community."

He added, "Going forward, the county will continue to focus on communication and strive to become a local government that enhances the quality of life for residents by not overlooking even the smallest actions."

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