Yongsan-gu's 'Music-Flowing Civil Service Office': The Story Behind Residents' and Officials' Positive Response?

Purchase and Installation of Sound Equipment in District Office Civil Service Room... Various Audio Played by Time Slot... Expedited Civil Complaints Processing...'Clearing Department Complaints by 4 PM'

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] The district office civil service center is a space frequently visited by residents to handle various tasks such as issuing integrated civil documents including resident registration certificates and copies, seal certificates, family relationship registrations like birth, death, marriage, and divorce reports, vehicle ownership transfers, cancellations, and changes, information disclosure requests, and changes in foreign residents' addresses.

Disputes often occur as well. This is because many people gather, causing delays in civil service processing, and there are many cases where processing is impossible due to regulations.

Yongsan-gu (District Mayor Seong Jang-hyun) is receiving positive responses from residents and public officials through its "Music-Flowing Civil Service Center Project."

To create a more comfortable atmosphere for both residents visiting the district office and the officials in charge, the district recently purchased and installed one dedicated laptop for music playback, two audio mixers, one amplifier, and twelve speakers on the second floor comprehensive civil service center.

To avoid copyright issues, the district signed a music usage contract with a professional streaming company and broadcasts various genres of music such as classical, new age, and jazz according to the time of day. The music has been praised for softening the atmosphere of the civil service center.

On the 25th, Lee Ji-won (45), who visited the district office comprehensive civil service center, said, "While waiting for civil service processing, I enjoyed a moment of relaxation listening to classical music," adding, "The waiting time was not boring at all."

Also, So Hyun-ah (29), a civil service officer handling foreign resident civil services at the center, mentioned, "Due to the nature of civil service work, it is difficult to leave the desk or listen to music separately," and added, "After attending to civil services, hearing music even for a short time feels healing."

Besides improving the civil service center environment, the district also focuses on faster civil service processing. Through the "4 PM Departmental Civil Service Inbox Clearing" project, the electronic civil service inboxes of each department are emptied every day at 4 PM, and especially if there are civil service cases with legal deadlines approaching or delayed, immediate processing is encouraged.

Seong Jang-hyun, Mayor of Yongsan-gu, stated, "Our district's comprehensive civil service center was re-certified in 2019 as a National Happiness Civil Service Center by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety," and added, "We will take care of even the smallest things so that residents can handle their tasks more pleasantly."

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety's National Happiness Civil Service Center is a system that selects excellent institutions among civil service centers nationwide, including local governments and metropolitan/provincial offices of education, and recognizes their status for three years.

The district's comprehensive civil service center was first certified in 2013 and re-certified as a National Happiness Civil Service Center in 2015 and 2019.