Gwangju City Named Best in the Nation in Comprehensive Civil Service Evaluation

Praised for Fair and Prompt Handling of Civil Complaints

Gwangju City Hall exterior view.

The city of Gwangju announced on the 6th that it has been selected as an outstanding institution, receiving the highest "Grade A" in the "2024 Comprehensive Civil Service Evaluation" jointly conducted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission.

The Comprehensive Civil Service Evaluation is conducted annually for 306 institutions nationwide (46 central government agencies, 17 metropolitan governments, 17 offices of education, and 226 local governments) across five categories: civil administration strategy and system, operation of civil service systems, handling of complaints via the National Petition Portal, resolution of grievances, and civil service satisfaction.

The city achieved excellent results in various areas, including establishing a civil administration system, fair and prompt handling of complaints via the National Petition Portal, efforts to resolve grievances, and achieving high levels of civil service satisfaction.

In particular, to realize "citizen-centered, citizen-satisfying civil service," the city regularly and objectively analyzed the status and issues of civil complaints, improved processes to shorten the handling period, and ensured fair and prompt handling of complaints raised by citizens.

To expedite civil service processing, a mileage system was operated to reduce the actual processing time compared to the statutory period. The city also provided step-by-step guidance to citizens on the complaint process?from receipt to intermediate handling to final results?thereby increasing convenience for complainants.

Using National Petition Portal data, the city receives frequent complaints such as winter potholes through the 120 Call Center. A collaborative system was introduced among relevant departments, including the General Construction Headquarters, to prevent secondary complaints and ensure prompt resolution.

For chronic and group grievances, the city operates a "Direct Complaint Task Room," conducting on-site investigations and coordinating with relevant agencies to listen to and address difficulties from the complainant's perspective. The online communication platforms "Gwangju ON" and "Citizen Rights Committee" actively reflected citizen voices in policymaking, and ongoing communication between citizens and administration was also highly praised.

To help foreign residents, a vulnerable group in civil services, settle in the region, the city established a Comprehensive Support Center for Foreign Residents and promoted various support policies. The creation of considerate service counters for social minorities such as pregnant women and the hearing-impaired also received positive evaluations.

To protect civil service staff from abusive or violent complaints and to create a safe environment, the city established a "Malicious Complaint Response Plan" in August last year, which includes a response system for malicious calls and support for affected staff.

Mayor Kang Gijung said, "Our excellence has been recognized through communication-oriented administration from the citizens' perspective," and added, "Going forward, our public officials will continue to listen to even the smallest voices of citizens and provide the best civil service so that we can be a pillar of support for them."