Seongbuk District Selects Team Leaders Jeongwan Cheon and Soonhong Lee as Outstanding Active Administration Officials

Four Outstanding Cases of Active Administration Selected for the First Half of the Year

Seongbuk District in Seoul (Mayor Seungro Lee) announced on July 22 that it has selected four public officials as "Outstanding Active Administration Officials for the First Half of 2025" for providing high-quality administrative services that residents can truly feel, based on creativity and expertise.

The district received recommendations for outstanding cases of active administration and exemplary public officials from all departments (including local offices) and residents. The selection process involved a first round of departmental working-level meetings, a second round of voting by employees and residents, and a final review by the Seongbuk District Active Administration Committee. The evaluation comprehensively considered factors such as the level of impact felt by residents, the proactiveness and creativity/expertise of the official, the importance and difficulty of the task, and the potential for broader application. As a result, a total of four cases were selected (two with an Excellent grade and two with a Commendation grade).

Seungro Lee, Mayor of Seongbuk District. Provided by Seongbuk District.

The officials selected for the Excellent grade are Team Leader Jeongwan Cheon of the Environmental Conservation Team in the Environment Division and Team Leader Soonhong Lee of the Real Estate Administration Team in the Real Estate Information Division. The Commendation grade was awarded to Officer Kyungseop Jin of the Redevelopment Project 1 Team in the Housing Redevelopment Division and Officer Hyunseop Kim of the Park Planning Team in the Parks and Green Spaces Division.

Team Leader Jeongwan Cheon focused on the lack of charging infrastructure for residents in villas and detached houses, in contrast to public facilities where installing electric vehicle chargers is mandatory. To address this issue, he not only promoted the initiative through the district’s website and bulletin boards but also formed a four-member site exploration team to actively search for locations suitable for installing electric vehicle chargers. These efforts led to the installation of chargers on a total of six private sites and encouraged 24-hour access, making Seongbuk District the first among local governments to install rapid electric vehicle chargers on private property.

Soonhong Lee, Team Leader of the Real Estate Information Division, discovered that land along the Jungnangcheon River, a national river, was unregistered in official land records and was located at the boundaries of four districts (Seongbuk, Nowon, Dongdaemun, and Jungnang). He investigated historical records from the National Archives and the four district offices, registering 9,555 square meters of previously unregistered river land?an area similar in size to Seoul Plaza?as new national territory.

Additionally, he identified that land adjacent to the Jungnangcheon River was still classified under its previous designations, such as fields and paddies, and was being incorrectly managed as general property despite being public administrative property. By collaborating with relevant agencies, including the Han River Basin Environmental Office, he facilitated the conversion of this land into administrative assets, thereby establishing a systematic management foundation for national property. These achievements led to his selection for the Excellent grade.

Seongbuk District plans to award the selected outstanding officials with a mayoral commendation and provide incentives according to their grade, including the highest level of performance bonus (Excellent) and special leave (Commendation).

Mayor Seungro Lee of Seongbuk District stated, "The selection of outstanding active administration officials demonstrates that the creativity and sense of responsibility of individual public officials can bring about change throughout the administration," adding, "We will continue to provide institutional support to ensure that resident-centered active administration becomes the foundation of our public service culture."