BUSAN — Busan Mayor Jeon Jae-soo is expanding the hands-on approach to governance he has stressed since taking office to every corner of the city. He will visit all 206 neighborhood-level administrative units, crossing the boundary between city hall and district offices, to review local issues and work out solutions jointly with district governments. The focus is on turning residents' complaints into actual projects and budget allocations rather than staging photo-op visits.
The Busan Metropolitan Government launched a project to visit all 206 neighborhoods under the current administration — Busan's ninth since South Korea revived direct local elections in 1995 — on the 15th, starting with Dong-gu and Jung-gu districts. Jeon toured key sites in the two districts with Dong-gu Mayor Kang Cheol-ho and Jung-gu Mayor Choi Jin-bong to hear residents' views.
In Dong-gu, the itinerary included the Dongcheon Stream pedestrian deck, hillside roads, steep slopes and care facilities. The visits addressed issues tied directly to daily life, including disaster prevention, better walking conditions, repairs to aging facilities, gaps in the welfare safety net and expanded childcare. In Jung-gu, Jeon visited the Yeongju-dong Oreumgil monorail, a community welfare center and a "fair-price" shop in Nampo-dong to review elderly care, welfare services, small business conditions and local price pressures.
The city plans to convert the problems identified on the ground into joint tasks for the city and district governments. At each site, Jeon hears directly from residents and officials and discusses solutions with district mayors. The city said it will actively consider follow-up steps, including budget support needed to carry out projects.
The project follows up on a communication and cooperation meeting among the city and its districts held on the 3rd of this month. After strengthening the cooperation framework between the city and district governments and building consensus on Busan's long-term vision, the city is now extending that cooperation to the field. Jeon made the same point when he stressed that "residents never draw a line between city hall and the district office."
"The city and the districts have to work as one team, listen to residents and find answers on the ground," Jeon said. "Over a four-year term, 209 weeks, I will visit every corner of Busan's 206 neighborhoods, hear what residents have to say and run an administration that responds without fail."
The city will visit Seo-gu and Yeongdo-gu on the 21st and will work through all 16 districts by the end of the year. Regional town hall meetings will run alongside the tour, with input from the field to be reflected in city policy. The approach is seen as a decision to concentrate administrative resources from the outset on everyday issues residents can feel immediately, rather than on large-scale development projects.
The day's schedule also closed on a note tied to daily life. Jeon shared a "Field Meal With Citizens" with residents at a fair-price shop in Nampo-dong, Jung-gu, to hear their concerns. The shop, a grilled-fish restaurant run by the third generation of the same family, has kept its prices reasonable and has provided free meals to elderly people living alone for five years, even covering funeral costs in one case. Jeon planned to present the shop with a plaque produced by the city in recognition of fair-price businesses.
