Gangjin County Innovation Alliance Officially Launched... Declaration of Citizen-Led Social Innovation

Chair Lee Taehun: "Action Is Change, Participation Is Innovation"

A citizen-led social innovation alliance has been officially launched in Gangjin County, South Jeolla Province.

The Gangjin County Innovation Alliance held its launching ceremony and press conference at 5 p.m. on the 2nd floor of Gangjin Music Creation Center on Ogam-gil, Gangjin-eup, on November 8, declaring "the beginning of a citizen-participatory social innovation movement."

Gangjin County Innovation Alliance held its launching ceremony on the 8th at Gangjin Music Creation Center in Gangjin-eup. Photo by Gangjin County Innovation Alliance

More than 100 people, including young people, representatives of social organizations, self-employed individuals, and citizens, attended the event. The ceremony included the reading of a press statement by Preparatory Committee Chair Lee Taehun, an "Innovation Declaration Performance," and the operation of a citizen-participatory campaign called the "Innovation Performance Zone."

At the entrance to the venue, a "Innovate! Stamp Your Mark!" corner was set up, where citizens left their handprints as signatures for change. In the "It's Time to Change! Let's Turn Gangjin Upside Down!" corner, citizens spoke for about 30 seconds in front of a camera about local issues and the changes they hoped for. These videos will be produced as "citizens' voices short-form content" and released online.

At the press conference, Chair Lee Taehun stated, "Even after 30 years of local autonomy, citizens still feel that changes are insufficient," and stressed, "We need to correct the structure of power that has lost responsibility, where citizens are not the true owners of self-governance."

He emphasized, "The Gangjin County Innovation Alliance is a citizen-centered social innovation alliance united by public values, not political interests," adding, "We will become an active innovation community where citizens themselves drive change."

He continued, "Innovation in Gangjin begins in the name of its citizens. Action is change, and participation is innovation," and added, "The more than 100 citizens who gathered here today are the pioneers of a new history for Gangjin, and this spark will spread to South Jeolla Province and the entire Republic of Korea."

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