[One Day Ten Thousand Steps, One Day Thousand Characters] A Civil Servant Who Walked 627 km from 5 AM to 9 AM for Fifteen Days

Choi Jaegon, an administrative officer working in the Road Safety Operations Division at the Pohang Regional Land Management Office of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, wakes up every day at 5 a.m. and walks continuously until before 9 a.m. when he goes to work, and again after work until he falls asleep. Over the course of fifteen days, he walked an astonishing total distance of 627.1 km. This is equivalent to running a marathon (42 km) every day. In terms of steps, he walked about 90,000 steps daily.

Officer Choi, a former boxer who won the MVP Outstanding Player Award at the MBC Rookie Championship, impressed all participating public officials with his perseverance and stamina. From July 24 to August 7, he received the grand prize, the Gold Award, in this year’s Sejong Government Complex Public Officials Walking Competition held over 15 days. The competition, hosted by the Sejong Government Complex Union (Chairman Choi Byungbuk, Chairman of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Public Officials Labor Union), saw 922 participants from 11 institutions. The second place went to Jang Hyeongo from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (421.68 km), third place to Lee Jongcheol from the Ministry of Science and ICT (279.55 km), and fourth place to Kim Jungtae from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (267.718 km). These three received Silver Awards, and a total of 20 participants were awarded Bronze and Friendship Awards.

At the awards ceremony held on September 6th at the Main Auditorium of Building 4, Government Sejong Complex, awardees including Choi Byung-wook, President of the Sejong Complex Association (5th from the left in the front row), and Choi Jae-gon, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport officer who won first place (6th from the left in the front row), are posing for a commemorative photo. Photo by Government Sejong Complex Association

The Public Officials Harmony Walking Competition, organized by the Sejong Government Complex Union and sponsored by NH Nonghyup Government Sejong Complex Financial Center, entered its second year following last year. The event has increased union members’ interest in health and harmony, resulting in higher participation rates. Chairman Choi Byungwook of the Sejong Government Complex Union said, "The steps taken by the 922 union members from 11 participating institutions, though engaged in different tasks, ultimately represent the footsteps of public officials moving forward together for the ‘value of togetherness’ for the people."