Seo-gu in Gwangju Recognized as Outstanding for Proactive Administration in Alley Economy Revitalization for Four Consecutive Years

First Nationwide Designation of All Areas as Alley-Type Shopping Districts

Expansion of Onnuri Gift Certificates Revitalizes Local Businesses

Reducing Residents’ Living Expenses and Driving Organizational Innovation

Delivering Proactive Administration with Tangible Impact

Gwangju Seo-gu Office Building View

Seo-gu District of Gwangju Metropolitan City has been selected as an outstanding agency in the "2025 Comprehensive Evaluation of Proactive Administration by Local Governments," hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. This marks the fourth consecutive year the district has received this distinction.

This year’s evaluation was conducted across 243 local governments nationwide, based on 18 detailed indicators in five categories, including efforts to improve systems, implementation performance, and residents' perceived impact.

Seo-gu received high marks for establishing a foundation for proactive administration throughout all stages—from developing implementation plans to producing achievements in national policy tasks—while delivering tangible results that residents could directly experience.

In particular, the "Alley Economy 119 Project," cited as a representative case, was the first policy in the country to designate all areas as alley-type shopping districts and expand the use of Onnuri gift certificates across the entire alley business sector. This initiative drew attention for creating a local circular economy model that both increased consumption and revitalized local business districts.

Furthermore, by linking the "Seo-gu Alley Pay Payback" program, which offers up to 20% cashback benefits, the district achieved two simultaneous effects: reducing residents’ living expenses by approximately 10 billion won and increasing sales for small business owners.

Lee Ikang, head of Seo-gu District Office, stated, "Our efforts to resolve residents’ inconveniences and bring about changes in daily life have led to being named an outstanding agency for four consecutive years."

Meanwhile, Seo-gu is also the only autonomous district in Gwangju to be selected as an outstanding institution for nine consecutive years in the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's "Local Government Innovation Assessment." Additionally, Seo-gu’s administrative capabilities continue to be recognized externally, including receiving the Prime Minister’s Award at the "2025 Good Local Governance Policy Conference."

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