Goo Inmo, Geochang County Governor, Holds Press Conference Marking 2nd Anniversary of 8th Popularly Elected Term

Two Years of the 8th Elected Term: 'Greater Geochang Leap' Gains Momentum
Integrity and Satisfaction Score: 72, Civil Servant Kindness: 73
71.4% Positive Outlook on Geochang County's Future

On July 2, Koo Inmo, the Governor of Geochang County, Gyeongnam, announced that he held a press conference for the second anniversary of the 8th popularly elected administration, inviting more than 40 journalists, including those from the press room, to the county office situation room.

This meeting presented the county's major awards and achievements in public contests over the past year, the current status of the administration's pledge projects, and the main accomplishments of the 7th and 8th terms. It was also an opportunity to outline the direction and vision for the second half of the 8th term, as well as to listen to and communicate with journalists in a conversational atmosphere to promote the region widely.

Looking at the major awards during the first half of the 8th term, Geochang County achieved a remarkable feat by winning fiscal incentives amounting to 2.192 billion won in a total of 100 areas, including central government ministries.

Geunmo Koo, mayor of Geochang County, held a press meeting with about 40 journalists, including reporters, on the 2nd at the county office situation room to commemorate the 2nd anniversary of the 8th local government administration.

In particular, Geochang County ranked first among counties in the 2024 joint evaluation of major city and county tasks, being selected as an excellent institution for six consecutive years. This served as an opportunity for the county's outstanding administrative capabilities and achievements to be recognized externally during the first half of the 8th term.

In 2023, the county earned a top rating in the local safety index for everyday safety, received excellent marks in traffic administration evaluation, was named the best institution for participatory budgeting, and was selected as the "Anti-Aging Healing Land" in the 2023-2024 Korea Tourism Top 100. These achievements have reinforced Geochang's image as a safe, vibrant community with high citizen participation, well-developed living infrastructure, and outstanding tourist attractions.

Since the beginning of Koo Inmo's tenure, the county has actively responded to public project contests, securing a total budget of 246.495 billion won across 120 fields. This has not only overcome the limitations of local finances typical of rural municipalities but also effectively addressed many regional issues.

Of the 57 pledge projects in six fields under the 8th term, 10 have been completed and 35 are progressing smoothly, demonstrating a high implementation rate.

During the six years spanning the 7th and 8th terms since Koo Inmo took office, the county has completed three major pending projects, improved residential environments, completed the east-west-south-north tourism belt through forest tourism projects, and expanded sports infrastructure. Most of Geochang's hardware infrastructure is now complete, and long-standing unresolved issues have been addressed, earning the governor a reputation among residents as a master of administration and a problem solver.

Notably, even before the national issue of population decline emerged, the county reorganized its structure and established a Population Education Division, allowing for a systematic response to population policy. As a result, Geochang now boasts the lowest population decline rate and the highest birth and marriage rates, establishing itself as the most livable region.

In the county's recent "2024 Geochang County Administrative Service Satisfaction and Demand Survey," 71.4% of residents responded that the county's future outlook during the governor's term has "greatly improved" or "improved," 24.5% responded "average," and only 4.2% responded "worsened" or "greatly worsened," indicating high satisfaction with county administration.

Major achievements of the first half of the 8th term include: ▲Ranking first in county population in the province ▲Securing a site for the early construction of the Geochang-type Medical Welfare Town ▲Securing a site for the Geochang County crematorium ▲Completion and opening of the Geochang Legal Town ▲Entering the era of 1 million forest tourism visitors ▲Implementing the foreign seasonal worker program ▲Improving Geochang-eup’s urban traffic environment ▲Normalizing operations at the Geochang County Elderly Nursing Hospital ▲Expanding sports infrastructure.

For the second half of the 8th term, the county's vision is to become: "A city where culture and the arts thrive, meeting the high cultural needs of Geochang residents through the creation of cultural and artistic infrastructure"; "A strong welfare city where all residents can receive medical and welfare services without worry"; "A healing tourism industrial city where visitors can experience living forests and beautiful nature anywhere in the region"; "A global elevator hub city where everything related to elevators begins and ends in our region with a one-stop solution"; and "A growing young city where the dreams of youth come true and young people can sustain their lives."

To realize this vision, eight key projects have been selected: ▲Early completion of the Geochang-type Medical Welfare Town ▲Completion of the Geochang County crematorium ▲Construction of the Geochang Theater Arts Complex and Geochang Art Gallery ▲Restoration of the Geochang-eup ecological stream ▲Construction of youth rental housing and a youth start-up support center ▲Completion of the second sports town and second Changpowon sports facilities ▲Preparation for designation as a national garden by expanding Changpowon infrastructure ▲Completion of the Geochang-eup ring road. These projects will be pursued according to clear coordinates and a roadmap.

Governor Koo stated, "Even in the face of national crises such as local extinction and population decline, my 800 colleagues and I did not lose hope and worked our hardest, which allowed us to achieve many results in the first two years of the 8th term. We will accelerate the representative projects starting in the second half to ensure their successful completion, and we will do our utmost to serve residents first, lead innovative administration, and become the best local government."