Yongin City Rewarded for Achievement During Eighth Civilian-Led Government's 3-Year Term

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Choi Ki-ho] Yongin Special City has received awards from external organizations or been selected as a top-performing or excellent agency by the government a total of 221 times over the three-year period from July 2022 through July 15, 2025 since the start of the eighth civilian-led government, including 5 Presidential Commendations for outstanding achievements.

The city revealed on the 16th that in addition to Presidential Commendations, it received 6 Prime Minister's Commendations, 2 Audit Commission Commendations, 90 commendations from central government ministries including the Ministry of Interior and Safety and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, 77 from Gyeonggi Province, 2 from government-funded institutions, and 39 from other organizations such as national research institutes and major media outlets, and was selected as a top-performing or excellent agency.

This is assessed as the result of efforts by Mayor Lee Sang-il and city civil servants to advance the city and improve residents' quality of life through enthusiastic and creative city administration and citizen-friendly governance.

The city was selected as an excellent agency in the Ministry of Interior and Safety's Disaster Management Evaluation and received Presidential Commendations for three consecutive years from 2022 to 2024. Among individual local governments, Yongin Special City is the first to receive Presidential Commendations for three consecutive years in the Disaster Management Evaluation.

Along with receiving commendations, the city received special grants of 245 million won last year, 230 million won in 2023, and 500 million won in 2022, which it has used to create a 'safer city of Yongin.'

In addition, on July 11, the city received the Presidential Award in the population policy merit category at the '14th Population Day Commemorative Ceremony' hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The city was recognized for systematically implementing life-cycle customized population policies including supporting childbirth and pregnancy, strengthening child-friendly city foundations, improving elementary, middle, and high school educational environments, supporting youth self-reliance, and implementing age-friendly policies such as health support and job creation for seniors.

In the Korea Statistics Office's '2024 Statistics Work Promotion Merit' evaluation last December, the city was recognized for completing surveys of approximately 120,000 local business establishments and was the only basic local government nationwide to receive a Presidential Commendation. Considering the rapidly changing urban landscape due to various development projects citywide, the city conducted a complete survey of all local business establishments to be used as basic data for various policies, which received recognition as serving as a model for other local governments.

The city received 6 Prime Minister's Commendations. Following its selection in the Citizen Happiness Civil Service field on November 25, 2022, Citizens' Day, and selection as an excellent agency in the fields of childcare work merit, safety culture awards, and emergency preparedness merit later that year, it received respective Prime Minister's Commendations. In 2023, the Yongin Volunteer Center under the city received a Prime Minister's Commendation for its performance at the '2023 Republic of Korea Volunteer Awards' hosted by the Ministry of Interior and Safety.

In June last year, the city received a Prime Minister's Commendation at the 29th Environmental Day commemorative environmental conservation awards ceremony for its leading role in environmental education. The city was designated as the nation's first Environmental Education City by the Ministry of Environment in 2022 and has implemented active environmental policies including fostering ecological schools and creating an eco-friendly city.

Regarding audits, the city was selected as an excellent agency in the 2022 Internal Audit Contest and received an Audit Commission Commendation. In 2024, Cheoin-gu Health Center received an Audit Commission Commendation for its achievement in improving work efficiency through administrative procedure simplification, including establishing a 'prescription billing computerization system for hypertension and diabetes patients aged 65 and above.'

The city also received 90 awards from various government ministries including the Ministry of Interior and Safety, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of Health and Welfare, and Ministry of Environment.

From the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the city received or was selected as an excellent agency 33 times. Including its selection as an excellent agency in the first half of 2022 local financial rapid execution promotion performance evaluation, it received high praise in diverse sectors directly related to residents' lives including selection as an excellent disaster response and carbon neutrality volunteer activity center, excellent agency for resident-led deregulation innovation, Republic of Korea Local Finance Awards, digital government development merit, and comprehensive civil service evaluation excellence. Notably, Yongin Special City was selected as an excellent agency in the '2025 Disaster Management Evaluation' hosted by the Ministry of Interior and Safety in June and became the only agency in the nation to be selected as an excellent agency for 10 consecutive years.

From the Ministry of Environment, the city received awards in environmental conservation merit (2023), selection as an excellent local government for free home collection of old home appliances (2023, 2024), and public sewerage treatment facility operational management performance evaluation (2024).

From the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the city received 26 awards. In 2022, Cheoin-gu Health Center received merit for Eye Day, Giheung-gu Health Center was selected as an excellent agency for Korean medicine health promotion projects, and Suji-gu Health Center received a cardio-cerebrovascular disease merit commendation. In 2023, it received the top award in excellent case presentations at the Community Health Cooperation Council Capacity Building Conference, and received commendations for national immunization program merit, community health survey merit, 101st Children's Day merit, and 36th World No-Tobacco Day merit.

The city received 8 awards from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. These include the 2022 architectural administration evaluation and urban regeneration merit, 2023 sustainable transportation city evaluation and residential welfare awards, development impact fee collection and payment work, and 2024 sustainable transportation city evaluation and digital twin national territory pilot projects.

From the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the city received awards including the 18th Living Horticulture Central Competition, 19th Local Governance Competition Agricultural and Special Product Division, agricultural mechanization promotion merit (2023), and rice brand awards (2024). From the Ministry of Employment and Labor, it received awards including the National Local Government Jobs Awards (2022, 2023, 2024) and outstanding local government merit for activating regional labor-management-civic cooperation (2023).

Mayor Lee Sang-il said, "I believe Yongin City during the eighth civilian-led government received numerous awards including Presidential and Prime Minister's Commendations for being recognized as implementing creative and effective policies across all areas of administration including citizen safety, culture and arts, environment, education, and welfare to advance the city and improve residents' lives," and added, "I extend my gratitude to all civil servants in the city who are implementing these good policies well."

The mayor also stated, "Going forward, the city will continue to communicate with residents and actively discover and implement policies that advance the city and improve residents' quality of life by exercising good observation and imagination."