Paju City Selected as an Excellent Institution in Local Government Innovation Assessment...Proving a First-in-the-Nation Administrative Model

Nation's First Achievements and Citizen-Participation Administration Bear Fruit
"Excellent" Ratings in 5 out of 10 Indicators

Paju City, which has been driving a wide range of policy innovations under its vision of "citizen-centered administration," has been selected as an excellent institution in the "2025 Local Government Innovation Assessment" organized by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

Paju City Hall. Photo provided by Paju City

This assessment comprehensively evaluated the innovation capacity and achievements of 243 local governments nationwide. It was conducted by evaluation panels in each field, including a national citizen evaluation group, across 10 items: ▲the head of the institution's innovation leadership ▲efforts to encourage participation in innovation activities and to spread innovation outcomes ▲strengthening resident communication and participation ▲invigorating public-private cooperation, and others.

Throughout 2025, Paju City promoted a variety of citizen-centered innovation policies under the policy slogan "All-in for Livelihoods (All People)." In particular, it has led innovation at the local government level by presenting new administrative models such as ▲the nation's first direct sale by a local government of hidden virtual assets (coins) held by local tax delinquents ▲the nation's first introduction of a direct power purchase agreement (PPA) for public renewable energy produced by a local government.

Above all, Paju City received high marks in areas such as strengthening resident communication and participation by actively reflecting citizens' opinions in every administrative process from policy planning to implementation through initiatives such as ▲operating a Mobile Mayor's Office ▲operating a Citizen Policy Design Group ▲holding a Large-Scale Citizens' Debate. Since its launch in September 2022, the Mobile Mayor's Office has been operated more than 200 times to date, with about 70% of citizen proposals reflected in actual policies. It has drawn attention as an outstanding example of communication-focused administration that demonstrates the effectiveness and value of citizen participation.

Going forward, under the slogan "Warm Livelihoods, Basic Work Up (Min-saeng On, Basic-up)," Paju City plans to continue promoting a wide range of innovative policies together with its 540,000 citizens in order to achieve its three major municipal goals: building a leading city of Korea's basic social system, making a rapid leap to a self-sufficient city of 1 million people, and establishing Paju as a core metropolitan hub for culture, ecology, and leisure.