Sangju City Wins Top Prize for Regulatory Reform Assessment for Second Consecutive Year

Revitalizing the Local Economy
Proactive Identification of Livelihood-Related Regulations

With the city's regulatory reforms, citizens are expected to receive improved administrative services.

Sangju City in North Gyeongsang Province won the top prize for the second consecutive year on May 11 in the 2026 North Gyeongsang Province Regulatory Reform Promotion Assessment.

This assessment comprehensively evaluated the previous year's achievements of 22 cities and counties in the province, based on joint government evaluation and North Gyeongsang Province's own assessment indicators.

Last year, the city actively identified and revised regulations impacting people's livelihoods—including those affecting small business owners, youth, and small and medium enterprises—to revitalize the local economy, improving a total of 29 local ordinances in Sangju.

As a result, the city proposed extending the inheritance period for passenger vehicle transportation businesses to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which accepted the suggestion. Consequently, a partial amendment bill to the Passenger Transport Service Act is currently under consideration.

Additionally, the city's efforts to relax age restrictions for successors in forestry, in response to an aging population, have led the Korea Forest Service to approve revisions, with related enforcement regulations now under review. These ongoing regulatory improvement initiatives by Sangju City are producing tangible regulatory innovation outcomes that citizens can directly experience.

Yangseok Kang, Mayor of Sangju, stated, "This award is the result of uncovering and improving unreasonable regulations hidden throughout the region, thereby reducing the management burden on local businesses and alleviating inconveniences in citizens' daily lives. We will continue to actively pursue regulatory reform work next year to win the top prize for a third consecutive time."