Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop Receives Excellence Award for Local Government Leaders at National Women's Conference

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 23rd that Mayor Lee Yong-seop of Gwangju Metropolitan City received the Excellent Local Government Head Award at the 55th National Women's Conference held on the 22nd, hosted by the Korean Women's Associations United.

The Excellent Local Government Head Award is given to local government heads who have made significant contributions to improving women's rights and status and creating a women-friendly city where women are safe and happy.

The Korean Women's Associations United evaluated Mayor Lee Yong-seop for his exemplary response, including proactively taking measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and showing solidarity by sharing hospital beds with Daegu.

In particular, he has taken the lead in realizing the promotion of women's rights and achieving a gender-equal society, and was recognized for actively implementing policies such as creating "Gwangju, a good city to have and raise children" to address the national crisis of low birth rates.

Earlier, in January of this year, Gwangju established the Women and Family Bureau and achieved the distinction of being selected as an excellent institution for gender impact assessment by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family through policies promoting gender equality and women's rights enhancement.

Additionally, aiming for the happy lives of citizens, the city announced and promoted a series of policies under the theme "Making Gwangju a good city to have and raise children," expanding public care to alleviate the burden of care on parents, while creating 3,000 jobs for women experiencing career interruptions, such as hospital child caregivers.

This year's Excellent Local Government Head Award was jointly awarded to four individuals, including Mayor Lee Yong-seop, Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong, Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin, and Busanjin District Mayor Seo Eun-sook.

Meanwhile, the Korean Women's Associations United was founded in 1959 and is Korea's representative women's organization contributing to the enhancement of women's rights and status, with 5 million members across 65 organizations nationwide.