Gwangju Dong-gu Achieves 'Highest Grade' in Evaluation of Promises Fulfilled During 7th Local Government Term

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Dong-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City (Mayor Im Taek) announced on the 26th that it received the highest grade (SA) in the ‘Manifesto Pledge Implementation and Information Disclosure Evaluation for Elected Heads of Basic Local Governments in 2020 during the 7th Local Government Term’ conducted by the Korea Manifesto Practice Headquarters.

This pledge evaluation was conducted over approximately 120 days starting from January, assessing the status of pledge implementation disclosed on the websites of 226 basic local governments nationwide as of the end of December 2019.

Based on this, the Practice Headquarters evaluated five areas: ▲Pledge Implementation Completion ▲Achievement of 2019 Goals ▲Resident Communication ▲Web Communication ▲Pledge Consistency, and assigned grades on a five-level scale (SA, A, B, C, D).

Since the launch of the 7th local government term, Dong-gu has been checking the progress of pledge projects through institutional foundations such as enacting ordinances for substantial promotion of pledge projects, quarterly self-inspections by departments, and pledge implementation evaluation committees.

Additionally, Dong-gu received the highest grade (SA) by achieving uniformly high scores across all five areas, including a major overhaul of the pledge website to make pledge details easily accessible to residents and active participation in the Manifesto Movement that guarantees resident participation.

In particular, separate from the existing pledge implementation evaluation committee composed of a few experts, Dong-gu newly introduced a pledge evaluation procedure based on deliberative democracy by forming a Resident Pledge Evaluation Group consisting of residents who experience local issues most closely, allowing residents to directly inspect, propose, and adjust.

Mayor Im Taek of Dong-gu said, “The implementation of pledges is a promise to the residents that must be kept,” and added, “During the remaining term, we will faithfully carry out pledge projects with the mindset that complete fulfillment of pledges through communication with residents will be the cornerstone for opening a new future for Dong-gu.”

Meanwhile, the pledge projects of Dong-gu during the 7th local government term consist of 42 projects in five major areas: ▲Jobs and Livelihood Economy ▲Urban Environment ▲Village Welfare ▲Living Culture and Arts ▲Autonomous Community, showing an implementation rate of 60.5% as of the first quarter of 2020.