Mayor Kim Sang-don of Uiwang City Wins Governance Local Politics Award for Third Consecutive Year

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Jeong Jun-sung] Mayor Kim Sang-don of Uiwang City received the Grand Prize in the Community Capacity Enhancement category at the '2021 Governance Local Politics Award' held at Seoul Women's Plaza on the 2nd.

With this achievement, Mayor Kim has been honored with winning the local politics award for three consecutive years, following his receipt of the Administrative Innovation category award in 2019 and the Improvement of Residents' Convenience category award last year.

The 'Governance Local Politics Award,' hosted by the Governance Center, discovers outstanding autonomous decentralization activities utilizing governance and selects recipients from regional leaders contributing to local government development across seven categories: expansion of resident convenience, improvement of administrative efficiency, enhancement of community capacity, strengthening of decentralized autonomy, revitalization of local communities, pioneering the future, and COVID-19 response.

Mayor Kim received the Grand Prize under the theme 'Kirokmaeru Dementia Café Creating New Hopeful Memories!'

'Kirokmaeru,' the nation's first private-led dementia café, is an activity space where elderly individuals with dementia can engage in the full coffee service experience—from placing orders to serving and tidying up—through a partnership utilizing facilities, materials, and expertise provided by a privately-operated coffee shop.

In this evaluation, the initiative received high marks for establishing governance structures for dementia care involving private coffee shop operators, volunteers, visiting nurses, and local safety leaders, as well as for improved self-esteem among participants and enhanced dementia awareness in the community.

Mayor Kim Sang-don stated, "I am delighted to achieve this remarkable feat of winning three years in a row. I believe this is the result of pursuing diverse public-private cooperative administration based on citizen participation and collaboration. Taking this award as an opportunity, I am committed to doing my best to make Uiwang City an even better place to live and a city where citizens are the true owners."