6 out of 10 Gyeongnam Residents Give Thumbs Up to Provincial Government... "Well Done"

The Highest Figure in the Last 4 Years of Surveys Targeting Residents

66.8% of Gyeongnam residents positively evaluated the provincial government's administration under the 8th elected governor, indicating increasing public trust in the provincial government.

On the 18th, Gyeongnam Province announced that it conducted a survey with the Korea Gallup Survey Institute, a professional polling organization, regarding the major achievements of the Gyeongnam provincial government as experienced by residents in 2024 and the outlook for the provincial government in 2025.

Gyeongnam Provincial Government Office. Photo by Lee Seryeong

The survey results showed that 7.6% rated the administration as very good and 59.2% as fairly good, with a total of 66.8% of residents positively evaluating this year's provincial government operations, marking the highest figure in the past four years of resident perception surveys.

Regarding the overall living conditions in Gyeongnam, 64.6% of residents responded that they are satisfied.

Those who rated it as fairly poor were 26.1%, and those who rated it as very poor were 5.2%, resulting in a negative evaluation of 31.3%.

Positive evaluation trends of Gyeongnam Province's administration over the past 5 years. Provided by Gyeongnam Provincial Government

Residents identified the opening of the Aerospace Administration Gyeongnam Sacheon Office (58.5%) as the top achievement in the economic and industrial sectors this year.

This was followed by achieving the highest-ever employment rate and winning the national comprehensive job award (9.8%), as well as reaching $4.3 billion in export volume and recording a trade surplus for 25 consecutive months (7.2%).

In the transportation, construction, safety, and environment sectors, the inclusion of the metropolitan transportation network in the government plan (42.5%) was cited as the greatest achievement.

Other key achievements included the re-promotion of the Southern Inland Railway construction project (24.6%) and being selected as the best institution nationwide in disaster management evaluation (7.8%).

2024 Gyeongnam Province Government Administration Evaluation and Life Satisfaction. Provided by Gyeongnam Provincial Government.

In the education, welfare, and medical sectors, residents identified the expansion of the medical school quota at Gyeongsang National University (25.1%), the opening of Gyeongnam's first regional trauma center (17.6%), and the establishment of the nation's first Gyeongnam-style senior care service support system (17.3%) as major achievements.

In the culture, arts, and tourism sectors, the hosting of the National Sports Festival and the National Para Games across the province, centered in Gimhae in October this year (49.3%), was selected as the greatest achievement.

The opening of the National Gaya History and Culture Center (13.5%) and the selection of the Geoje Jangmok Tourism Complex Corporate Innovation Park leading project in a public contest (11.2%) were also highlighted as key achievements.

The sectors residents believed Gyeongnam Province performed best in this year were welfare, medical care, and education at 38.5%, culture, tourism, and sports at 33.7%, and transportation, construction, and safety at 31.3%.

When asked about the priority areas for Gyeongnam Province to focus on in 2025, respondents answered industrial economy and jobs at 61.0%, welfare, medical care, and education at 53.6%, and transportation, construction, and safety at 22.4% in that order.

Regarding the livelihood of Gyeongnam residents next year, 23.3% answered that it will be "better than now," 52.8% said it will be "similar to now," and 19.9% predicted it will be "worse than now."

As the areas that Gyeongnam Province should prioritize to become an economic hub, respondents answered ▲establishing a metropolitan transportation network system and attracting future advanced companies (19.5%), ▲attracting and nurturing talent in advanced manufacturing technology (15.9%), and ▲administrative integration of Busan and Gyeongnam (14.6%) in that order.

This survey was conducted from the 26th to the 29th of last month via telephone and mobile phone among 1,027 adult men and women aged 18 or older residing in the province, with a sampling error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.