Sang-ik Lee, Hampyeong County Governor, 1st Anniversary Achievements... ①

'Creative Administration' Drive-in Theater Visited by Over 2,700 Cars

Strengthening Local Economy Base and Leading Efforts to Raise Residents' Happiness Index

[Hampyeong=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Chunsu] Lee Sang-ik, Hampyeong County Governor and former 'Management CEO,' has been evaluated to have brought a breeze of change to county administration by achieving meaningful results during his one-year tenure.

On the occasion of the first anniversary of Lee Sang-ik's inauguration through the April 15, 2020 by-election, we reviewed the major achievements of Hampyeong county administration so far.

◆ ‘Drive-in Theater’ Contributes to Enhancing Citizens' Cultural Welfare

One of the biggest changes that came to Hampyeong County over the past year was the establishment of a drive-in theater, which significantly improved the cultural welfare of the residents.

The drive-in theater, opened at the Hwangso Parking Lot in Hampyeong Expo Park, was realized through an idea directly proposed by Governor Lee.

Since the closure of the theater in Hampyeong town in 1992, 29 years have passed, and the facility has gained credibility as an essential place to satisfy the cultural needs and improve the welfare of the residents.

The drive-in theater is operated directly by Hampyeong County, and since its opening on January 28, over 2,700 cars have visited in just over three months, discovering new possibilities for non-face-to-face cultural events.

Especially as the COVID-19 pandemic has lasted for more than a year, emphasizing healthy and safe non-face-to-face cultural life, it is regarded as a popular attraction among residents and visitors from other regions.

It is significant in creating a space where people can enjoy cultural life while observing social distancing, breaking away from the limitations of conventional theaters characterized by close contact, enclosed spaces, and crowding.

In the future, the drive-in theater is expected to attract tourists by expanding sightseeing and entertainment in connection with nearby tourist spots such as the night opening of Hampyeong Expo Park and the creation of Hampyeong Butterfly Garden.

◆ COVID-19 Prevention and Spread Blocking... Prioritizing Livelihood Stability

With the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic threatening the health and safety of residents more than ever, Hampyeong County is protecting its citizens through rapid, proactive, and systematic COVID-19 responses.

Since the first confirmed COVID-19 case in Korea in January last year, a total of 24 confirmed cases have occurred in the county over one year and four months.

Accordingly, Hampyeong County has made every effort to block the spread of local infections through immediate drive-through and walking-through proactive testing and rapid epidemiological investigations upon confirmed cases.

Additionally, the county has worked to stabilize livelihoods in preparation for the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis.

Emergency disaster relief funds amounting to 9.742 billion KRW were promptly provided to all residents affected by COVID-19, and 270 million KRW in public utility support was given to small business owners.

◆ Demonstrated Crisis Response Capability to Unexpected Heavy Rain Damage

Hampyeong County suffered severe damage from last year's heavy rains and was designated a special disaster area by the government, securing 17.4 billion KRW of the 27.1 billion KRW recovery cost from national funds.

Despite the crisis of the disaster situation, Governor Lee's swift and outstanding response ability was praised.

In particular, the government's designation of the special disaster area enabled prompt disaster relief payments of 16 million KRW and 2 million KRW to residents for permanent damage to houses (5 cases) and flooding (131 cases) within the region, respectively.

◆ Practical Financial Management... Excellent Evaluation for Rapid Execution by Ministry of the Interior and Safety

This year, Hampyeong County entered the era of a 400 billion KRW main budget, gaining momentum for current projects.

Despite decreases in domestic taxes and local allocation taxes due to the impact of COVID-19, 125 projects in 2021 and 92 billion KRW in national and provincial subsidies were secured, enabling the advancement of local issues.

Moreover, the county was selected as an excellent institution and the best institution in the first and second half of 2020, respectively, in evaluations conducted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety for rapid execution, and was also recognized as an excellent institution for rapid local finance execution by Jeollanam-do, revitalizing the local economy through prompt spending.

◆ Participatory County Administration and Communicative On-site Governance

Governor Lee has been practicing 'participatory county administration and open governance,' which he emphasized from the beginning of his term.

To promote 'on-site administration communicating with residents,' he invited representatives from nine towns and townships to the drive-in theater one by one and conducted Korea's first non-face-to-face 'Dialogue with Residents' at the drive-in theater, drawing attention.

Through this event, he directly communicated with residents about the direction of county administration, received grievances and suggestions, and received favorable reviews from the citizens.

The abolition of the governor's official residence, called a 'relic of bureaucratic administration,' was also carried out for the purpose of Governor Lee's communication with residents.

After winning the by-election last year, Governor Lee declared the abolition of the governor's official residence. Subsequently, the residence was remodeled internally and transformed into the Hampyeong County Lifelong Learning Center in March, returning the residence to the citizens after 30 years.

◆ Creating Jobs to Lay a Stable Foundation for Regional Economic Growth

Since Governor Lee's inauguration, Hampyeong County has been selected for national funding for the Hampyeong-eup alley economy recovery project over the past year and has worked to revitalize the market and stores through the modernization project of 'Hampyeongcheonji Traditional Market.'

The Hampyeongcheonji Traditional Market, newly renovated with modern stores on the site of the old Hampyeong 5-day Market, plans to be gradually converted into a daily market.

Additionally, to stimulate local consumption, Hampyeong County expanded the issuance of Hampyeong Love Gift Certificates from 12.3 billion KRW in 2019 to 31 billion KRW in 2020 (a 252% increase compared to the previous year), injecting vitality into the stagnant local economy.

To ensure stable regional economic growth, the county has devoted efforts to creating public sector jobs such as public work, community jobs, hope work, and quarantine jobs, as well as conducting youth job projects in 17 fields, creating customized jobs.

◆ Promoting Increased Farm Income... Moving Toward Integrated Branding of Agricultural and Livestock Specialties

Since Governor Lee, an agricultural distribution expert, took office, Hampyeong agriculture has reached a new turning point in development. The county is approaching residents with more proactive policies to increase farm income.

Governor Lee also holds monthly meetings with heads of agricultural and livestock cooperatives to gather on-site opinions on current issues in the agricultural and livestock sectors.

The most notable county policies are the onion price guarantee system and the full purchase of general rice.

The county guarantees the prices of onions and garlic autonomously to establish a stable supply and demand system centered on major production areas of onions and garlic. Through the vegetable price stabilization support project, 8,613 tons and 932 million KRW have been executed to date.

The full purchase of general rice is carried out jointly by the county and the agricultural cooperative.

After enacting the ordinance on support for general rice shipment incentives in Hampyeong County, a general rice shipment promotion committee was formed to decide on supported varieties and amounts.

Through this, shipment incentives were paid for 8,913 tons (202,828 bags of 40 kg) of 2020 general rice to 3,911 farms.

Recently, Hampyeong County also established a 'Five-Year Plan for Revitalizing Distribution and Integrated Branding of Agricultural and Livestock Specialties.'

This plan aims to create a unified support system including organizing producers of agricultural and livestock specialties and to build an integrated brand management system from production to distribution and consumption.

Shifting the paradigm from production-centered agricultural policies to distribution policy centered on new trends, the goal is to build a 'Wealthy Hampyeong' by focusing on strategic cultivation of high-quality agricultural and livestock specialty items.

The strategic items include ▲ food crops (rice, wheat) ▲ horticultural special crops open-field vegetables (onion, pumpkin), facility horticulture (strawberry, tomato, zucchini, mugwort), special crops (enoki mushroom, king oyster mushroom, trumpet mushroom) ▲ general fruit (Shine Muscat, fig, peach, Taechu persimmon), subtropical (citrus, mango), totaling 17 types.

Governor Lee plans to increase farm income and establish a foundation for high value-added agricultural production through the cultivation of these strategic items.

He has also expressed his ambition to promote modernization of horticultural facilities and contribute to revitalizing rural villages and stabilizing management.