Gwangju Gwangsan-gu Recognized as 'Excellent' in Resident Participatory Budget System Evaluation for Three Consecutive Years

Secured 20 Million Won in Special Grant from Ministry of the Interior and Safety

Gwangsan-gu in Gwangju has secured a special grant of 20 million KRW after winning the Excellence Award in the Comprehensive Category at this year's Participatory Budgeting Performance Evaluation. With this, Gwangsan-gu announced on the 20th that it has been selected as an excellent local government for three consecutive years.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety evaluates the operation of participatory budgeting systems in local governments nationwide every year. This year, for the first time, three grades were given: Excellent, Average, and Needs Improvement.

The district received high marks in all categories, including responsibility, transparency, democracy, expertise, potential for development, and best practices in participatory budgeting.

Gwangsan District Office in Gwangju.

According to the district, the "Visiting Participatory Budgeting School" was operated, with 512 residents participating this year alone. As a result, the number of project proposals increased by 25% compared to last year, reaching 253 cases.

The district attributed this achievement to supporting the participation of migrants and youth, reflecting the young average age of residents and the large number of foreign residents, and to incorporating the voices of various groups.

Park Byungkyu, head of the district office, said, "I am pleased that our continuous efforts to strengthen participatory budgeting and citizens' budget sovereignty during the 8th term of local government have been recognized," and added, "We will operate the participatory budgeting system even more effectively so that citizens' voices are reflected in the budget and 'citizen participation in fiscal democracy' is realized."