Yeongdeungpo-gu Strives
to Be an Int'l Biz Center

Mayor says it achieved a record-high performance

Yeongdeungpo, once a backwater area of Seoul, is shaping up as a borough of international business and finance by capitalizing on its geographical and other features as the gateway to the capital's downtown and the affluent Gangnam district. "With the successful attraction of massive investments into the projects, Yeouido is expected to establish itself as a full-blown center of international business and finance,"said Kim Hyong-soo, mayor of the Yeongdeungpo-gu Ward Office in an interview with NewsWorld. The mayor was referring to the projected 69-story Parc 1, designed to be the highest office building in Korea, and the International Business Center Project as part of its goal of evolving the ward area into a center of international business and finance.
"The Yeongdeungpo-gu Ward Office is striving to expand its infrastructure and nurture its manpower to correspond to the development goal,"he said.
Mayor Kim, reelected in 2006, said,
"We have toiled our way to achieve our ward goals based on the master plan for the future of Yeongdeungpo which I established during my previous term as mayor. They have paid off: We are surprised to have achieved a record-high performance, and Yeongdeungpo has become a subject of envy among other local autonomous bodies.
The mayor said the ward office has also earned a reputation in Korea and abroad with its Public Project Quality Management OK System, designed to prevent substandard construction in all public projects. The system has been presented at domestic and foreign seminars and will be presented at the American Society for Public Administration's (ASPA's) 69th Annual Conference, to be held March 8-11, 2008 in Dallas, Texas. The following are excerpts of his interview on his other ward policies and projects.
Question: You were reelected to Yeongdeungpo-gu mayor for the fourth-term local administration. You may feel a greater responsibility since your reelection. What have you achieved since you took office?
Answer: I often think that being a mayor is a difficult, yet important job since the quality of ward residents'lives depends upon the policies the mayor implements.
Looking back on my reelection in the May 31, 2006 local elections, I was excited with the outcome and also felt a greater responsibility to lead the Yeongdeungpo-gu Ward Office. In particular, Yeongdeungpo is less developed than other local autonomous bodies. Things have changed greatly thanks to my efforts to put the ward on track during my tenure heading the third local autonomous administration, but there are still things to get done.
As I took office, I first changed our ward office's goals. In a bid to transform the moribund mood of the ward area, I put forward a new future vision that all of our staff and residents could share: City of Hopes, Ever-Growing Yeongdeungpo.
We have toiled our way to achieve our ward goals based on the master plan for the future of Yeongdeungpo, which I established during my previous term as mayor. They have paid off: We are surprised to have achieved a record-high performance, and Yeongdeungpo has become a subject of envy among other local autonomous bodies.
Yeongdeungpo has swept up presidential awards in competition with other local autonomous organizations. It earned an aggregate of 1.9 billion won and 1.4 billion won in rewards for recording excellent grades in 30 areas and 29 areas during 2006 and 2007, respectively. The feats are owed to the support of our staff of about 1,300 and our 41,000 ward residents.
I feel pride and am thankful for the fact that our ward has begun to move after shaking off the shackles of a long-standing slump.
Q: You earned a reputation as you became the first local autonomous body chief in 2006 to present President Roh Moo-hyun with a business report on an innovative project your ward office has been pushing ahead. Will you elaborate on the details of the project?
A: As the first local autonomous organization head to make a briefing to a cabinet meeting presided over by President Roh,
I presented our ward office's priority project, dubbed "Public Project Quality Management OK System."The system is designed to prevent substandard construction in all public projects and to ensure quality. To this end, we have developed on-line computing programs and a business manual and have mobilized diverse methods, including the installation of high-performance Web cameras at construction sites in order to systematize and publicly disclose in real time all construction processes ranging from planning, design, construction and completion to post-completion management.
For instance, imagine that someone is watching the progress of a construction site in real time. Who would dare to do things clumsily and carelessly?
The transparency of construction sites can eradicate the causes of substandard construction, wrongdoing and corruption, having a symbolic impact on raising the integrity of the nation as a whole.
The Public Project Quality Management OK System, our ward's innovative brand project, has grabbed the presidential award twice, submitted its registration for a domestic trademark and an application for a patent. It has earned a reputation in Korea and abroad in recognition of its excellence.
The system has been presented at domestic and foreign seminars and will be presented to the American Society for Public Administration's (ASPA's) 69th Annual Conference, to be held March 8-11, 2008 in Dallas, Texas.
It may be a somewhat burdensome job for a local autonomous body to be charged with. But if the system turns out to be a hit, I consider it desirable for the central government to take over the job to create more synergetic effects. We are going to keep studying and upgrading the system in order to make it a masterpiece.
Q: Will you introduce your ward's two "New Town Redevelopment Projects,"including the one in Shingil-dong, that are under way?
A: A great part of our ward area outside of Yeouido is still an old-styled town. The new town redevelopment projects are being implemented in the Yeongdeungpo-dong and Shingil-dong areas. Much of the Yeongdeungpo-gu area is still a backwater compared to other ward areas without redevelopment projects.
The Yeongdeungpo New Town Project, finalized in 2005, calls for the development of a new town with multiple commercial, business and residential functions on a 226,000 square-meter area encompassing Yeongdeungpo-dong 2-Ga, 5-Ga and 7-Ga.
The Shingil New Town Project, being implemented on a 1,470,000 square-meter area around 236 Shingil-dong, is the second largest one in the capital area. It will be developed as a model new town with an environmentally-friendly, futuristic concept.
The development of the New Town areas, situated at the far end of Yeouido, which is emerging as an international business town, is expected to bring about significant synergetic effects.
Q: The site of former industrial plants is being transformed into a new high-tech town tailored to meet the demands of the 21st century. Will you give us more details?
A: Many people conjure up pictures of Yeongdeungpo as an area of factories, which, although they contributed to the modernization of Korea, now have a negative impact on urbanization and the environment. To name a few, there were such plants as the Pang Rim Co., Kyongsong Spinning & Weaving Company, Crown Brewery (predecessor of Hite), Oriental Brewery (predecessor of OB), centered around Yeongdeungpo Station.
The former sites of Crown Brewery and Oriental Brewery have been already changed into an agreeable park and a large-sized residential complex.
A project to redevelop the old site of Pang Rim Co. was completed on Sept. 4, 2006, 10 years after it broke ground. The area has been reshaped into a multiple-use district of commerce, business and urban-type residential spaces, designed to accommodate large-sized apartment complexes, skyscrapers with 40 floors, large-sized discount stores and apartment-type factory buildings. A project is also under way to redevelop the former site of Kyongsong Spinning & Weaving Company into a mammoth entertainment complex of buildings with five to 20 floors. The project calls for the completion of such diverse multiple-use spaces as a 255-room super-class hotel, a department store, a shopping center, a multiplex cinema center, a convention center and a variety of performance halls by 2009 at a cost of 580 billion won.
The old industrial plant district will be transformed into Seoul's new and representative borough of residence, business and commerce space.
Q: The jewels of the Yeongdeungpo redevelopment projects are the ongoing construction of Korea's highest skyscraper and an international business center in Yeouido. Will you tell our readers why your ward undertook these mammoth projects?
A: Yeouido, a decades-long center of politics, economy and news media, has been serving as a pivotal gateway of the nation and has had a great impact on Korea's image since the Incheon International Airport was first opened to flights.
The area, a half hour drive from Incheon International Airport along the Olympic Grand Road, is a gateway to both Gangbuk (north of the Han River) and Gangnam (south of the river).
We have conceived the idea to develop Yeouido into a center of international business and finance, in sync with its geographical features and a changing environ in an era of globalization. To this end, we needed to build up its infrastructure and make massive investments corresponding to the development goals.
The projected 69-story Parc 1, designed to be the highest in Korea, is to be dedicated by May 2011 at a cost of 2 trillion won. It calls for the construction of two office buildings with 69 and 52 floors, a 30-story hotel and an 8-story shopping mall on a lot of 45,465 sq. meters.
The International Business Center Project calls for the construction of three 55-floor office buildings, a shopping mall, a convention center and a multiplex cinema center by between 2010 and 2013 in stages. The International Business Center will be built on the former site of the Exhibition Center for SMEs, covering 33,058 square meters, situated across the road from the planned Parc 1.
The two mammoth projects are forecast to bring about job-creating and direct production effects. With the successful attraction of massive investments into the projects, Yeouido is expected to establish itself as a full-blown center of international business and finance.
Q: Will you elaborate on the plan to develop Yeouido as an international tourist destination?
A: Yeouido, emerging as a center of international business and finance, is surrounded by the pristine and natural environs of the Han River, a leisure/resting space for some 10 million Seoulites. These factors have the potential to serve as a tourist course with a combination of urbanity and nature.
We are also striving to make Yeouido a year-round magnet for foreign tourists by making the most of the Yeouido Spring Flower Festival that attracts approximately 4 million tourists who come to appreciate the cherry blossoms each year by developing other tourism-related products. We set our sights on transforming the 1.7 km road full of cherry blossoms each spring into what looks like Montmarte in Paris: making the road a car-free street where people can enjoy fine arts, music and performing arts.
With the cherry blossom street behind the National Assembly taking center stage, we plan to push ahead with projects to build an ecological park and an "Opera House"on the Seonyu-do Islet and the Nodeul-seom Islet, respectively. They will be linked to the existing tourist spots, including the Bam-seom Islet, and the Seonyu-do Islet Park and Jeoldu-san Catholic Martyrs Tombs Site in an effort to attract foreign tourists.
Q: I have been hearing that the Yeongdeungpo Ward Office is trying to foster professional manpower tailored to meet the demands of an era of globalization as the ward area is shaping up as an international city. Will you introduce educational, training and other programs for ward officials?
A: The Yeongdeungpo Ward Office has become the first local government organization to establish an international financing team, a move designed to bolster administrative support for its rising role as an international city.
The International Financing Team, manned by those who specialize in such fields as finance, trade and economics and are fluent in foreign languages, is charged with the provision of administrative service necessary for attracting financial multinationals and foreign investment.
With a goal of evolving Yeongdeungpo into a world-class city in an era of globalization, the ward office maintains a sister-city relationship with cities in Japan and China. We are also planning to forge such ties with other cities in the United States and Europe.
The Yeongdeungpo Ward Office is providing assistance money for nourishing individuals'capabilities while operating one Chinese, four English and two Japanese language classes for ward officials'fraternity groups and a pool of foreign-focused manpower.
We are also studying a plan to give ward officials opportunities to study overseas. In addition, public notices through the public address system within the precinct of the ward office are now being made in English.
Q: Will you explain your ward office's environment-friendly projects to differentiate it from other ward offices?
A: Our ward is the only administrative unit to have no mountains, but we have natural resources: the Han River and the Anyang Stream.
We're striving to create a more agreeable living environment by building up neighborhood parks and village grounds in several parts of the ward area through the utilization of natural conditions and by rehabilitating the ecosystem and expanding the green spaces.
The Yeongdeungpo Ward Office is setting aside investments to expand an ecological habitat and nature experience camps along the Saetgang Stream of Yeouido.
It continues to implement projects to rehabilitate the ecosystem of the Anyang Stream to its natural state and make low-lying, idle land into an ecological park as well as to prevent a loss in the water flow of the Dorim-cheon Stream.
We are also working on such projects as the rehabilitation of Dangsan and Mullae parks into natural green spaces, in order to expand green spaces in the residential parts of the quasi-industrial zones. nw

(counterclockwise) Yeongdeungpo Mayor Kim Hyong-soo; An aerial photo shows the Yeongdeungpo ward area that commands a fine view of the sprawling Yeouido Park, surrounded by the National Assembly Building and skyscrapers,; and The projected 69-story Parc 1, being built in Yeouido, promises to be the highest office building in Korea when it is completed.

Shown above is the Public Project Quality Management OK System put on the Yeongdeungpo-gu Ward Office's Web site. The ward office gained a reputation for the development and implementation of the system.