Planning Mayor Kim Jong-cheon of Pocheon City, 100 Days in Office... 'All Efforts for Citizens' Happiness'

The activities of Pocheon Mayor Kim Jong-cheon, who has presented 'Pocheon, a city of hope where citizens' dreams are realized' as his city governance vision, are attracting attention.

On the 21st, marking his 100th day in office, Mayor Kim Jong-cheon of Pocheon is creating a newly leaping Pocheon City through change and innovation, and is pursuing dynamic administrative practices to ensure that promises made to Pocheon citizens are properly implemented.

Mayor Kim is driving change in Pocheon City based on four core administrative values: friendly service, responsible administration, innovative administration, and empathetic administration.

Immediately upon taking office, Mayor Kim emphasized 'friendly service' and instructed various civil petition service measures to create a kind and communicative Pocheon City. He is conducting citizen healing education for civil petition staff members and conducting monthly self-diagnosis and citizen satisfaction surveys to lead the way in providing civil petition services that touch citizens' hearts.

Additionally, Mayor Kim has previously emphasized the importance of field administration through his philosophy that 'all civil petitions originate from the field, and answers lie in the field.' Since taking office, despite a busy schedule, Mayor Kim Jong-cheon has visited major project sites in Pocheon City as well as residential areas, pursuing tireless field administration.

During his first 100 days in office, Mayor Kim has visited major pending project sites and large construction sites throughout Pocheon City, including △Hantan River major project sites △Happy Housing construction sites within Yongjeong General Industrial Complex △Furniture collective exhibition and sales showroom and logistics center construction sites △Pocheon Stream Second Phase Ecological Stream Restoration Project sites △Shinreup District 2 Land Re-investigation Survey sites △Local Road Gwangam-Masan Expansion and Widening Construction sites and other locations in an exhausting schedule.

In addition, he visited sites where collective complaints regarding odors, noise, and other issues persistently occur, listened to citizens' firsthand opinions, and urged thorough administrative guidance to prevent additional damage.

Furthermore, regarding the military shooting range damage and collective energy business related to coal thermal power plants, which are the city's most pressing issues, following a presidential meeting recommendation on June 7, the Blue House's Social Innovation Senior Secretary visited Pocheon on July 18 to survey the coal thermal power plant collective energy project construction site and the Yeongpyeong Rodriguez shooting range protest site. At this meeting, Mayor Kim earnestly requested that these pending issues be resolved by the central government.

The city made every effort to expand finances to implement administrative services for citizens. Recently, by expanding local taxes and reducing unnecessary project budgets through rigorous fiscal soundness policies, the city repaid 8 billion won in local debt ahead of schedule. Through this effort, the city achieved savings of approximately 1.1 billion won in interest, laying the groundwork for stable financial management.

In June, Mayor Kim held talks with Gyeonggi Province Governor Nam Kyung-pil to explain pending projects that Pocheon is emphasizing and requested active support from Gyeonggi Province. Through organic cooperation with Gyeonggi Province, Mayor Kim has achieved significant results in securing provincial special adjustment grants, including △Hasong Uri-Masan Road Expansion and Widening Project (20 billion won) △Gomo-Jikdong Road Expansion and Widening Project (2 billion won) △Shinpyeong-Gayang Road Expansion and Widening Project (1 billion won) △Sohueul Pressure Tank Installation Project (1 billion won).

In addition, on the 5th, Mayor Kim visited the Ministry of Economy and Finance's Employment and Environment Budget Division to explain the Yangmun General Industrial Complex Operation Activation Project and actively proposed support to secure national budget funding for next year, successfully securing 2.7 billion won in national budget.

Meanwhile, the city's 'Pocheon Youth Travel Warehouse Project' received an encouragement award at the '2017 Next Gyeonggi Creative Audition' and secured 3 billion won in special adjustment grants. The project is a tourism product linking and developing Pocheon's abundant tourism resources with the opening of highways, and is expected to lead to job creation for youth and revitalization of the regional economy. Mayor Kim Jong-cheon of Pocheon stated, 'Using the precious tourism resources that Pocheon possesses, I will create a sophisticated and attractive tourism and leisure city.'

Additionally, on June 22, the city, together with Gyeonggi Province, changed the name of the 'K-Design Village,' which cultivates Asia's design and culture platform and a world-class center of design industry, to 'Gyeonggi Designer Village 'Gomoriae'' and declared a new transformation and leap forward.

Mayor Kim Jong-cheon of Pocheon signed business agreements amid the attendance of related organizations including Gyeonggi Province Governor Nam Kyung-pil and President Song Ji-o of the Korea Fashion Designers Association and pledged to continue mutually beneficial cooperation to drive the dramatic development of northern Gyeonggi through new job creation, expanded tax revenue, and expanded infrastructure.

Meanwhile, to create a dignified living environment, the city is making every effort to expand well-connected road and transportation networks. On June 30, the Guri-Pocheon section of the Sejong-Pocheon Expressway, Pocheon's first expressway, opened.

The 50.6km Sejong-Pocheon Expressway connecting Topyeong-dong in Guri City to Shinbuk-myeon in Pocheon City is expected to improve Pocheon's transportation infrastructure, resolve chronic traffic congestion, enhance inter-regional accessibility, and greatly contribute to revitalizing Pocheon's regional economy, including industrial complexes and tourist destinations.

Additionally, on the 5th, a section of the Gwangam-Masan Road underwent temporary opening, and is expected to play a major role in smooth traffic flow and economic revitalization of surrounding areas.

Furthermore, the city signed the 'Pocheon City Regional Development Basic Agreement' with the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) last month. As development demand has increased recently, jobs have been continuously growing; however, due to insufficient residential environments, the need for Pocheon's regional development plan has emerged.

Through this agreement ceremony, Mayor Kim Jong-cheon stated, 'Through systematic and planned regional development planning, I will attract population, support residential stability, and create Pocheon as a self-sufficient city where people want to live.'

Mayor Kim Jong-cheon of Pocheon stated, 'Over the past 100 days, I have personally felt the unlimited potential of Pocheon City. Going forward, prioritizing the 160,000 citizens of Pocheon, I will do my best to create 'Pocheon Rising Again' and 'Vibrant Pocheon' through change and innovation,' expressing his sentiments on his 100 days in office.