Mayor speaks at 100-day talk concert with direct public access
Pledges to build self-sufficient city that turns sacrifice into growth
"I will turn years of sacrifice into a new opportunity for growth, and build a self-sufficient city where people work and stay. And I will take responsibility for citizens' lives to the very end."
Those were the words Gwangju Mayor Park Kwan-yeol pledged Thursday at a "100-Day Talk Concert with Citizens." The event drew such a large crowd to the Namhansanseong Hall of the Gwangju Arts and Culture Center that all 700 seats on the first floor and 300 on the second were filled.
Throughout the event, Park repeatedly invoked the words "citizens' voices" and "the scene," mentioning them dozens of times — an indirect but pointed affirmation that the motto of his ninth directly elected term, "Gwangju in Direct Contact with Citizens," carries genuine meaning.
In practice, Park has backed that motto with action. Since taking office as Gwangju mayor on July 1, he has made 399 field visits over roughly 100 days — nearly four visits a day on average — meeting some 4,570 citizens along the way.
The event opened with a pre-ceremony performance by the Bumid Brass Band and the Gwangju Boys and Girls Choir, followed by a screening of a video tracing the administration's first 100 days, a report on achievements, two rounds of the talk concert, a vision video screening and a group photo.
"The first 100 days since the launch of the ninth term have been a time of listening closely to your voices and thinking together about Gwangju's new future," Park said, outlining three core values — active communication with citizens, delivering results citizens can feel, and pragmatic governance — and pledging to build five kinds of city: one with direct and open channels of communication, one where citizens find happiness, one that grows through convergence, one where traffic flows freely, and one where work and life go hand in hand.
The first half of the talk concert featured conversations with 15 citizen representatives drawn from a range of civic groups — including youth, senior and disability organizations — selected by age group and field. The second half was devoted to an open question-and-answer session with the audience.
After Park invited citizens to "tell their real stories" and urged them to "ask anything without hesitation," a wide range of requests and questions poured in — covering the expansion of cultural spaces for teenagers, youth employment and startup support, women's safety from domestic and sexual violence, traffic congestion, welfare for women, people with disabilities and the elderly, bus routes and road expansion, the development of parks and sports facilities, and river maintenance.
Park responded to each issue with detailed explanations of his plans and the direction of his administration, drawing sustained applause from the audience.
"Communication with citizens is not complete simply by listening — it is only fulfilled when we answer those voices with results," Park said. "Going forward, I will find answers in the field and prove the change through concrete action."
pjh@heraldcorp.com
