Uiwang City Selects Six Finalists for '31st Citizen Award'

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Jung Jun-sung] On the 8th, Uiwang City held the '31st Citizen Award Screening Committee' and finally selected six exemplary citizens from different sectors as recipients of the city's Citizen Award for their contributions to municipal development.

The Uiwang City Citizen Award is the most prestigious award given by the city to citizens who have contributed to civic harmony and regional development with strong sense of responsibility and spirit of service, and recipients are selected and honored annually in each category.

From July 4 to 31, the city recruited candidates for the Citizen Award in six categories (Social Service, Filial Piety, Culture & Arts, Sports, Education & Environment & Health, and Regional Development). A total of 17 people were nominated from six fields, and six were selected from among them.

The winners selected this time are ▲Yang Chang-ui (71, male) in the Social Service category, ▲Kim Ok-ja (67, female) in the Filial Piety category, ▲Lee Ik-jae (81, male) in the Culture & Arts category, ▲Ha Sam-yeol (65, male) in the Sports category, ▲Lee Jung-geun (53, male) in the Education & Environment & Health category, and ▲Lee Jung-hee (63, female) in the Regional Development category.

Yang Chang-ui, the winner in the Social Service category, joined the Red Cross Volunteer Association in 2009 and was recognized for his contributions to enhancing community welfare by actively participating in relief activities, laundry services, food-sharing programs, hope windmill sponsorships, and hair and beauty services for low-income households and elderly people living alone.

Kim Ok-ja, selected as the winner in the Filial Piety category, is known for hosting filial piety celebrations for the 20th consecutive year with the mindset of showing filial devotion to underprivileged elders in the community that she could not show to her own parents. Her consistent efforts to care for the health of the elderly and share affection with them were highly evaluated.

Lee Ik-jae, the winner in the Culture & Arts category, has been conducting volunteer service activities through music more than 20 times annually since founding the Bravo Orchestra through his senior citizens business, and has been recognized for efforts to expand opportunities for cultural appreciation among neighbors by proactively promoting events such as 'Wanggok Stream Culture Night' and 'Dream Tree Painting Contest' while returning his artistic talents to the community.

Ha Sam-yeol, the winner in the Sports category, has been serving as executive director since the founding of the Table Tennis Association, established a separate division for people with disabilities in the Uiwang Cup Table Tennis Competition to encourage participation by the disabled, and led excellent performances in various competitions as a player and coach, earning recognition for his contributions to sports development in Uiwang City.

Lee Jung-geun in the Education & Environment & Health category has served as director of the Gyeonggi Province Drug Eradication Headquarters and regularly conducts prevention education on drug and substance abuse for students and elderly people, and as a member of the Pharmacy Association, he has contributed to the development of community health and medical care by delivering first-aid medicines to social welfare facilities within the city and providing medication guidance and health consultations.

Lee Jung-hee, selected as the winner in the Regional Development category, has served as the head of the Nae-son District 2 Saemaul Women's Association, head of the Nae-son District 2 Neighborhood Chief Council, head of the Nae-son District 2 Disaster Preparedness Unit, and member of the Uiwang City Citizens Monitoring Committee and Citizens Evaluation Committee. She was recognized for her efforts to resolve residents' inconveniences with active commitment, disaster preparedness activities, and identifying blind spots in welfare services for regional community development.

The city plans to award the selected winners at the 'Citizens' Day Commemoration Ceremony' to be held on October 15.