"Incentives for Proactive Administration"... Gwangju Buk-gu Expands Rewards for Public Officials

Final Announcement of Five Outstanding Cases Including New Annex Construction

Top Performance Bonuses, Cash Rewards, and Paid Leave Offered

Buk-gu District in Gwangju has finalized and announced five outstanding examples of proactive administration for the first half of 2026, aimed at resolving resident inconveniences and improving administrative efficiency. Public officials who achieved tangible results that residents can feel in their daily lives—from constructing a new government office building to improving school commute walkways—will be granted exceptional incentives.

According to Buk-gu District on May 13, these outstanding cases were selected from major departmental policies implemented between October of last year and March of this year. The final five cases (one grand prize, two excellence awards, and two encouragement awards) were determined through online voting and evaluation panel reviews. Four criteria were comprehensively considered: resident impact, proactiveness/creativity/professionalism, importance and difficulty of the work, and scalability.

The grand prize went to the "Buk-gu Office New Annex Construction Project." To address resident inconvenience caused by the aging building, limited space, and dispersed departments, Buk-gu District invested a total of 30 billion won and completed an eight-story annex at the beginning of this year. This project received the highest marks for dramatically improving the work environment and enhancing convenience for visitors.

The excellence awards went to two projects: the installation of a walkway within Pung-hyang Elementary School, which significantly reduced the detour distance for residents from 800 meters to 120 meters, and the restoration project for collapse-prone areas in Wolchul-dong, which involved the demolition of hazardous buildings vulnerable to rockfall.

The encouragement awards were given to the "Dalbit Children’s Hospital Support Project," which minimized gaps in pediatric medical care throughout the year, and the "Temporary Public Employee Recruitment and Operation," the first of its kind in Gwangju, implemented to promptly address administrative vacancies.

Buk-gu District plans to foster a culture of proactive administration within the organization by granting top-level performance bonuses, cash rewards and paid leave, and extra points for overseas backpacking opportunities to the selected outstanding public officials.

A Buk-gu District official stated, "Proactive administration is an essential competency that local governments must possess in a rapidly changing administrative environment," and added, "We will continue to do our best to bring about positive changes to residents' daily lives through the creative and active attitudes of public officials."