Yi Gye-sim, a Man Worth a Thousand Gold

On the 1st, I took the oath of office as mayor of Namyangju for the ninth popularly elected term, at the plaza in front of Namyangju City Hall. A week has passed, but the tension has yet to fade. The first person who came to mind that day was a governing official who set out for Goksan in Hwanghae Province some 220 years ago: Dasan Jeong Yak-yong.

The birthplace and grave of the man I have respected most throughout my life are right here, in Majae Village, Joan-myeon, Namyangju. The fact that I begin my administration atop these traces — that is the reason I begin this column.

In 1797, King Jeongjo, seeking to protect Jeong Yak-yong from the attacks of his opponents for a time, sent him out as the magistrate of Goksan. But on his way to take office, a man blocked the path before his palanquin. It was Yi Gye-sim. During the previous magistrate's tenure, he had led more than a thousand commoners to the government office in protest against corruption in the military cloth levy, and had become a fugitive.

Yi Gye-sim, carrying a document listing twelve grievances that afflicted the people, appeared as if turning himself in rather than fleeing. When the clerks moved at once to bind him, Jeong instead stopped them. After carefully examining the matter, he released Yi as innocent, telling him: "The reason the government is not enlightened is that the people do not stand up to it and argue their case. A person like you is exactly the kind the government should acquire even at the cost of a thousand gold."

I have long turned this sentence over in my mind. Jeong Yak-yong saw Yi Gye-sim as an indispensable partner in setting the government straight. He accepted the people's protest not as a challenge to his rule, but as a precious signal prompting him to reflect on himself.

Namyangju's ninth elected term has promised an "era of citizen sovereignty." I myself must first adopt Jeong Yak-yong's gaze. The citizen who files a complaint, the citizen who points out administrative errors, is not an inconvenient presence. That voice is the very starting point of administrative innovation, and the most precious partner with whom we will build the era of citizen sovereignty together.

On my first day in office, my first act of approval was to sign the "Basic Ordinance for the Realization of Namyangju as a Constitution-Friendly City." It is a declaration that I will make the constitutional values of human dignity and citizen sovereignty the guiding principles of governing.

The ordinance also includes a digital citizen sovereignty platform to gather citizens' proposals. Just as Yi Gye-sim appeared before Dasan carrying a single document, our citizens too will use this platform to inform us of administrative errors at any time. I will treat those voices not as bothersome complaints, but as precious policy resources.

Of course, this may not be as easy as it sounds. The incompetence that goes by the name of "convention" is more persistent than one might think. Each time I face it, I intend to recall Jeong Yak-yong, the governing official who confronted Yi Gye-sim on his first day in office — that mindset of trying to keep him close even in a situation that warranted anger.

Namyangju now stands at the threshold of growing into a megacity of one million. As the city grows, so too will citizens' inconveniences increase. There are many challenges to solve: the laments that jobs are scarce, the complaints that transportation is slow, and the grievances repeated with every heavy snowfall and downpour. To not brush off these voices as annoying complaints, but to accept them as signals pointing to the spots the administration has missed — that is what Jeong Yak-yong learned from Yi Gye-sim, and what I want to put into practice in Namyangju.

Through the creation of the Wangsuk Advanced Cluster centered on data-based advanced manufacturing and converged industries in artificial intelligence (AI), bio, and energy, we will establish new engines of growth, and we will recover development profits and reinvest them in the region. We aim to build a city where the public transit network is tightly connected, riverside and perimeter trails are maintained, and high-quality culture, arts, and medical services can be enjoyed close to home. Above all, I will be a mayor who takes responsibility for the lives and safety of citizens.

If Yi Gye-sim were to appear again somewhere in Namyangju, I would grasp his hand firmly. That is the love of the people (aemin) that I understand from Jeong Yak-yong, and it is the first step in the era of citizen sovereignty that Namyangju will walk. Not letting go of that hand — that is the first promise I must keep as mayor of Namyangju.

He is...