Chairman Geum Gwang-yeon: "A Council Where Citizens Are the Owners, Walking the Path of Integration and Independence"

[2025 New Year's Address] Geum Gwang-yeon, Chairman of Hanam City Council, Gyeonggi
Expansion of meetings with heads of related organizations at Administrative Welfare Centers
Strengthening 'Communication Governance' by actively listening to voices from the field
Promise of a dignified council that citizens can turn to in difficult times

"In 2025, we will shed our old skin, be reborn, and walk the path of integration and independence."

Geum Gwang-yeon, Chairman of Hanam City Council, is announcing the legislative goals for the new year 2025 in his New Year's address on the 28th. Provided by Hanam City Council

On the 28th, Geum Gwang-yeon, Chairperson of the Hanam City Council, said in his New Year's address, "In 2025, the security of a divided Republic of Korea has become even more unstable due to the North Korea-Russia military alliance, and the economic situation is difficult to predict, but there is no need to be prematurely frightened."

Chairperson Geum stated, "If all citizens unite as one, there is no difficulty we cannot overcome, nor any mountain we cannot climb," and pledged, "The 9th Council, with an equal 5 to 5 split between the ruling and opposition parties, will go beyond the test of cooperation and make this a valuable year that repays the citizens of Hanam with tangible results and achievements."

To this end, Chairperson Geum declared, "I will open my heart and extend my hand even to those who think differently or stand on the opposite side, sincerely listen to the voices of the citizens, and walk the 'path of integration' where all 10 council members move in one direction solely for the development of Hanam."

Along with this, Chairperson Geum emphasized, "Local autonomy, revived in 1991, has run for over 30 years on two wheels?the executive branch and the council?and has grown into an adult, but the council still cannot stand alone, lacking budgetary authority, organizational authority, and audit rights," adding, "We will make 2025 the 'inaugural year of the Local Council Act,' break away from the past where the council was regarded as a subordinate agency of the executive branch, and focus on securing status as an independent institution, thus walking the 'path of independence.'"

Chairperson Geum stressed that next year, he will further strengthen 'communication governance.' To this end, he plans to expand the 'meeting with heads of related organizations of 13 Dong Administrative Welfare Centers,' which was held for the first time since the implementation of local autonomy in 1991, after visiting each Dong last October to identify current issues and hear vivid voices from the field.

Furthermore, in the era of citizen sovereignty, he promised to create the 'path of ownership' where the true owners of the local council are the citizens of Hanam, and to become a dignified council that narrows the distance between citizens and the local council so that citizens can always knock on the council's door whenever they face difficulties or hardships.

Finally, Chairperson Geum expressed, "The local council and the executive branch are not enemies but partners leading city administration through healthy criticism and checks and balances," and stated, "Our city council will discard minor differences and pursue great unity while walking with our partners."

Meanwhile, the first session of the new year 2025, the Year of Eulsa (乙巳年), will be the 337th extraordinary session, scheduled to be held for 10 days from February 10 to 19 next year.