Gapyeong-gun Ranks First Nationwide in Local Autonomy Competitiveness Index for Management Activities

Seo Taewon County Governor "Next Year, We Will Also Take First Place in Overall Competitiveness"
Leapfrogging to 1st Place This Year After 2nd Place Last Year Among County-Level Local Governments

Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province (Governor Seo Tae-won) ranked first nationwide in the management activities category among county-level local governments according to the Korea Local Competitiveness Index (KLCI) analysis. This achievement is notable as it marks a one-step rise from second place last year.

A view of Gapyeong County Office. Provided by Gapyeong County.

On the 22nd, a county official stated, "This achievement is meaningful as it proves that Gapyeong-gun's policies aimed at sustainable development and improving residents' quality of life are yielding effective results."

According to Gapyeong-gun, the Korea Local Competitiveness Index has been evaluating the competitiveness of domestic local governments since 1996. Developed to provide a detailed analysis of local government management performance and regional competitiveness, it measures competitiveness annually using official government statistics (80 indicators, 250 data points) across 226 local governments nationwide. Now in its 29th year, this evaluation has become a standard for assessing local government competitiveness.

In particular, the management activities category, in which Gapyeong-gun ranked first, evaluates 25 detailed indicators across 11 fields including public administration, local finance, living environment, and regional economy. These indicators include civil complaint handling, home health care, financial independence ratio, and cultural tourism expenditure. Gapyeong-gun achieved excellent results in all categories, securing first place nationwide among county-level local governments.

Governor Seo Tae-won said, "Being selected first this year after ranking second last year in the Korea Local Competitiveness Index analysis is the result of concrete achievements from projects initiated during the 8th elected administration. Together with over 800 public officials, we will strive to innovate and transform county administration so that next year we can also achieve first place in the comprehensive competitiveness category."