Gwangju City Selects Kim Won and Song Yuntae as 'May Public Officials'

Gwangju Metropolitan City selected Kim Won, the officer in charge of the 5·18 Memorial Division of the Democracy, Human Rights and Peace Bureau (left in the photo), and Song Yuntae, the officer in charge of Safety Policy in the Citizen Safety Office, as the "Civil Servants of the Month" and awarded them. Photo by Gwangju Metropolitan City

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced that it selected Song Yuntae, an officer in charge of safety policy at the Citizen Safety Office, and Kim Won, an officer in charge of the 5·18 Memorial Division of the Democracy, Human Rights and Peace Bureau, as the ‘Civil Servants of the Month’ for May and held an award ceremony on the 1st at the city hall’s main conference room.

Despite difficulties in carrying out tasks due to COVID-19, they were each recognized for their contributions to the development of city administration by actively promoting urgent tasks such as securing national funds in the safety sector and conducting the 5·18 commemorative events in a non-face-to-face, online format.

Officer Song attracted the Ministry of Science and ICT’s ‘5G-based Digital Twin Public Leading Project’ and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s ‘Region-tailored Disaster Safety R&D Support Project,’ contributing to the creation of an innovative safety management model based on 4th industrial revolution technologies and the creation of jobs in the disaster safety industry.

The ‘5G-based Digital Twin Public Leading’ project is the first nationwide public contest project that implements a virtual space identical to the real world using advanced technologies such as 5G networks, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), and big data, and verifies real-time building safety management. The project budget is 6.2 billion KRW, including 4.7 billion KRW in national funds.

The ‘Region-tailored Disaster Safety R&D Support Project’ is a project newly launched this year by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to solve different disaster safety issues by disaster type in 17 local governments. The local governments lead planning, research and development, and verification, with a project budget of 2.1 billion KRW, including 1.6 billion KRW in national funds.

Fostering the disaster safety industry is a core safety pledge of the 7th local government administration. Officer Song received the Prime Minister’s Commendation and a special grant of 500 million KRW in 2019 for being selected as an excellent institution in the National Safety Diagnosis. He has also laid the foundation for the future safety industry in the region through hosting disaster safety industry conferences and idea auditions, conducting local safety industry surveys, participating in the Korea Safety Industry Expo, and organizing and operating strategic planning teams.

Officer Kim secured 9.23 billion KRW in national funds after visiting related organizations and submitting materials to promote the 40th anniversary 5·18 commemorative events.

He contributed to promoting the national and global recognition of the 5·18 Gwangju Spirit through projects such as the Gwangju World Human Rights City Forum, the 2020 Gwangju Venice Biennale 5·18 Democracy Movement Special Exhibition, the Korea-Poland touring play adapted from the novel “The Boy Who Came,” the 120-year modern history exhibition, the 5·18 cultural festival (Gwanghwamun, cultural arts festival), the modernization of 5·18 memorial facility contents, and support projects for autonomous districts.

Additionally, for the first time, he signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for cooperative projects and joint hosting of the 40th anniversary 5·18 commemorative events with Seoul City and promoted the ‘May Peace Festival’ online events, including the KBS Open Concert, 5·18 Film Festival, and 5·18 Democracy Movement Archives Exhibition under the slogan ‘Spring of Seoul, Light of Gwangju’ to commemorate the 5·18 Democracy Movement.

He ensured that the ordinance designating the 5·18 Democracy Movement Memorial Day as a local holiday was supported by all public institutions and organizations to reflect on its significance. Despite COVID-19, he contributed to the successful hosting of the 40th anniversary commemorative event at the 5·18 Democracy Square in front of the old Jeonnam Provincial Office, attended by about 400 people including 5·18 bereaved families, veterans, and government officials.

Officer Song said, “In preparation for the post-COVID era, I will do my best to strategically discover the digital safety industry, establish a sustainable safety management system, and create safety jobs.”

Officer Kim said, “The president’s words, ‘Whether I could have stayed at the provincial office that day or not, if we took time to ask ourselves that question, we have responded to the victims of that day,’ still remain in my memory. I will work harder to promote commemorative events that help us reflect on the meaning of 5·18.”