Mayor Lee Hyun-jae of Hanam: "Employees Are the Driving Force for Growth... Advancing as a Smart and Welfare City"

Hanam City Holds December Monthly Meeting
Shares Outstanding Overseas Benchmarking Cases
Reveals the Secret Behind Winning the Presidential Award for Two Consecutive Years

Hanam City in Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Lee Hyun-jae) held its December monthly meeting at the city hall auditorium on the 3rd, presenting awards to individuals who contributed to the development of the city and sharing this year's outstanding achievements in overseas benchmarking.

Lee Hyun-jae, Mayor of Hanam City, is holding the December monthly meeting at the city hall auditorium on the 3rd. Photo by Hanam City

Notably, the meeting highlighted that Hanam City’s unprecedented accomplishment-winning the Presidential Award for the Comprehensive Civil Service Evaluation for two consecutive years, the first in the nation-was not a mere coincidence. Instead, it was reaffirmed as the result of systematic and comprehensive support for strengthening the capabilities of public officials at the municipal level.

Over the years, the city has boldly supported a total of 537 domestic and international benchmarking trips, including field visits to exemplary cities within Korea and backpacking trips to 27 countries around the world, enabling public officials to observe and learn from the best in their respective fields. In addition, the city has significantly expanded practical self-development opportunities, such as providing up to 990,000 won per person annually for foreign language education, thereby enhancing the international perspective and practical skills of its public officials.

Such bold investments have translated into improved quality of administrative services. As employees’ broadened perspectives and innovative thinking have been applied to administrative practices, Hanam City ranked first nationwide in the Comprehensive Civil Service Evaluation. The recent Presidential Award for the AI-based illegal motorcycle monitoring service is also a result of this creative administrative environment.

Mayor Lee stated, “The remarkable achievements, such as winning the Presidential Award for two consecutive years at the close of the year, are thanks to the dedication and self-improvement efforts of our employees for the citizens and the city government,” and encouraged, “Each and every one of your efforts is contributing to Hanam City’s remarkable competitiveness.”

He continued, “Next year, we will actively communicate with the city council to ensure that the city’s policies and major projects are carried out without disruption, and I ask that you treat issues raised during the administrative audit as opportunities for improvement toward better administration.”

During the monthly meeting, three teams that visited advanced overseas sites this year through such support-Park & Green Space and Road Management Division (Team 1), Autonomy, Civil Service & Investment Promotion Division (Team 2), and Hanam Social Workers Association (Team 3)-presented the results of their benchmarking trips.

The Park & Green Space and Road Management Division (Team 1) benchmarked Singapore’s “City in a Garden” strategy. They analyzed Singapore’s vertical greening techniques, IoT and AI-based park management, and satellite-based ERP smart systems, and proposed specific application plans such as introducing vertical greening in the old downtown, applying smart irrigation and AI-based plant analysis in the development of K-Star World, and piloting smart road safety facilities (such as yellow warning signals) for vulnerable road users.

The Autonomy, Civil Service & Investment Promotion Division (Team 2) shared administrative systems from Munich, Germany, and Amsterdam, Netherlands. In particular, they highlighted the one-stop service for complex civil complaints, the Project Manager (PM) system for resolving business difficulties, and an incentive system that combines team-based performance evaluation with citizen feedback as the optimal model for “collaborative administration.” Team 2 assessed that these systems would serve as valuable references for enhancing the quality of Hanam City’s civil service in the future.

The Hanam Social Workers Association (Team 3) benchmarked dementia-friendly centers and citizen welfare plazas in Fukuoka, Japan. The association, emphasizing that “welfare is a process of connecting people rather than just facilities,” identified immersive education programs involving dementia patients and local residents, intergenerational community operations, and the expansion of universal design as core tasks for Hanam’s community care model.

Mayor Lee said, “The advanced overseas cases shared today are not just visit reports, but seeds of innovation that will drive change throughout the city government,” and added, “We will continue to enhance administrative efficiency and citizen-centered services to advance as a smart and welfare-oriented city.”

He further stated, “Creating an environment where each and every employee can work with greater pride will directly lead to citizen happiness,” and added, “The greatest driving force behind Hanam City’s growth has always been our employees.”

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