The Village-Making Local Government Council (co-president Gangdong-gu Mayor: Lee Hae-sik) will hold the “2018, 1st Village-Making Local Government Council Regular Meeting” at Seoul Olympic Parktel on March 21 and 22. 

The “Village-Making Local Government Council” is a consultative group comprised of local governments with policy support tenacity for a local community. Launched in September 2015 to “realize local autonomy, innovate local communities, improve quality of citizens’ lives,” the group has promoted construction of a foundation for Village-Making as well as system improvement, policy development, fortification of progress capacity, and joint cooperative projects, among others.

There are currently 51 primary autonomous groups throughout the country, including Gangdong-gu with its co-president, and 4 metropolitan government bodies - Seoul, Gyeonggi-do, Gangwon-do and Gwangju - as active member cities.

 This meeting will be held in Gangdong-gu, sponsored by the Village-Making Nationwide Network and the Korea Maeul Support Center, over 100 individuals related to Village-Making, such as public officials, members of middle support groups, and village activists, will participate in this event. 

On the first day of the meeting, the 21st, there will be sharing of Village-Making promotion status, discussion for operation direction for 2018, policy proposal of village activists, and a presentation of Village-Making outstanding cases. Through Gangdong-gu Office’s Mayor Lee Hae-sik and his keynote speech on the theme “Village Autonomy and Decentralization of Power,” attendees will seek ways for citizen autonomy growth and village development.

 On the second day, the 22nd, attendees will visit Gangdong-gu’s Kang Full Cartoon Street, a street transformed from an old, neglected downtown district into a colorful, representative street, and the village residents’ rest area and guest house, Seungryong’s House. On the visit, attendees will explore the area with mural commentators comprised of local citizens, and will also look into the creation process of Kang Full Cartoon Street and the changes it brought upon the village.

 Mayor Lee Hae-sik commented, “Local autonomy cannot exist without citizen autonomy. Capacity for citizen autonomy will be strengthened through Village-Making, which autonomously manages policies and projects closely related to citizen welfare and lifestyles in village units, and a true local autonomy will be realized through which citizens will become owners.”

<Related Photos>

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  Village-Making Local Government Council Inauguration Ceremony (September 2015))